Director Kethireddy Jagadeeswar Reddy is coming up with a film Lakshmi’s Veera Grandham, based on how Lakshmi Parvathi met legendary actor NTR, who she eventually married. The film was launched recently with Pooja Kumar being roped in to play Lakshmi. The director confirms that he plans to rope in Mahesh Manjrekar to play NTR. The unit recently went to Nimmakuru, the birth place of NTR, to shoot a few scenes at NTR’s house and the village, but the locals didn’t allow them to do so.
“We got permission to shoot there, but the locals assumed that we are making a film against NTR, in favour of Lakshmi. We immediately stopped shoot,” says Kethireddy, adding that once the elders of the village came to know the truth, they invited the crew. “They thought we were the unit of RGV’s film, so they stopped us,” explains the director. Kethireddy says that the film is about Lakshmi and how she ‘trapped’ NTR. “We went to Lakshmi’s native village and researched about her and her husband, Veeragandham Subba Rao. Although she was with the late NTR for nearly three years, she was married to Subba Rao for nearly 17 years,” he says.
Ministers Talasani Srinivasa Yadav and Mahender Reddy were to be present at the launch but Kethireddy claims that Lakshmi “called them and urged them not to go for the launch”. He adds, “She even called the police and threatened to commit suicide if we shoot our film. But we will go ahead with. The shoot starts from December 1,” informs Kethireddy, who questions how Lakshmi invited Ram Gopal Varma when he announced the film Lakshmi’s NTR. “It’s unfair that she is encouraging one person to make a film while she is threatening us. She called us and asked to remove the name Veera Grandham. But we won’t,” he says. The makers are now keen to approach actor Satyaraj to play Subba Rao’s character. Vijay Kumar Goud is producing this film.
