Did Balakrishna Decline a Role in Skanda?

If sources are to be believed, Nandamuri Balakrishna declined to play a special role in Skanda despite his close association with director Boyapati Srinu. According to an insider, Boyapati approached Balakrishna and narrated an action-packed role, but the senior actor turned it down as he was not keen on projects featuring two heroes.

“Initially, Ram Pothineni was supposed to play Bhaskar Raju, an educated and simple man who wants to help a friend. The other role was that of a ruthless assassin arriving from Morocco, named ‘Skanda’. This second role was offered to Balakrishna, but he rejected it. Eventually, Ram Pothineni played both characters, with the assassin role dominating the second half of the film,” says the source.

The insider further claims that Balakrishna may have found the core storyline unconvincing, particularly the idea of a single hero taking on two sitting Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which reportedly felt far-fetched. As a result, he chose to stay away from what he perceived as an over-the-top action film.

Interestingly, the source points out that Balakrishna did not question the narrative while trusting Boyapati completely for Akhanda 2. “He didn’t raise concerns over logical gaps or exaggerated sequences. Taking advantage of this creative freedom, the director went overboard and delivered an unrealistic and clichéd film, which was heavily trolled and received negative reviews,” the source adds.

Nevertheless, reports of Balakrishna and Boyapati Srinu teaming up once again are doing the rounds. Fans and trade circles are hopeful that the director will return to a more grounded yet powerful action-adventure narrative, reviving the duo’s successful streak that began with Simha and peaked with Akhanda.