Soodhu Kavvum’s Telugu remake hits hurdles

Dr Rajashekar is adamant on reprising Sethupathi’s role in the original

While last year’s Tamil hit movie Soodhu Kavvum is being remade by every major film industry, its Telugu remake has run into a series of troubles.
When Soodhu Kavvum was declared a hit, well-known Telugu movie banner Prasad V Potluri (PVP) purchased the remake rights of the movie. When he realised that the movie is being remade into all other South languages, he quickly sold the rights of the movie to veteran Telugu actor Dr Rajashekar and his actress-wife Jeevitha.
For the last three months, the actor-couple is trying hard to announce the Telugu version, but finding the going tough right from selecting the star cast to technicians and marketing the project. The major drawback of the movie is supposed to be the lead star cast as Rajashekar is keen on reprising the role played by Vijay Sethupathi in the Tamil original. Apparently, this has not gone down well with casting managers because the actor is hardly seen in Telugu movies for the last four years.
“He was one of the biggest stars in the 80s. But the stardom has been on the decline in the last one decade and no major actress is keen on acting with him in the remake. They are facing huge issues in identifying the actress for the movie,” a leading casting manager from Hyderabad, said.
Apparently, there were discussions to rope in Gopichand or Srikanth for the role played by Vijay Sethupathi. However, it is being said that Rajashekar is keen on making a big comeback to Telugu movies through this movie, and therefore he is adamant on playing the lead actor’s role. The film will be directed by a new-comer while music is being composed by Achu Rajamani. Apparently, Sanchita Shetty, who played the female lead of the Tamil original, was keen on doing the Telugu remake. However, when she learnt that Dr Rajashekar would be the male lead, she reportedly backed out of the film.