Bringing Baba Hathiram to life onscreen is a big challenge: Nagarjuna

Even as accolades for his performance as a quadriplegic millionaire in Oopiri are still pouring in, Nagarjuna has begun prepping up to play another unconventional character ��� Baba Hathiram, ���the 18th century devotee��� of Lord Venkateshwara.
K Raghavendra Rao who directed the actor���s three previous devotional films ��� Annamayya, Sri Ramadasu and Shirdi Sai ��� is helming the film that seeks to recreate the life and times of Baba Hathiram.But with not much historical data available about Baba Hathiram, Nag admits, getting into the character will be a bigger challenge.
���We have realised that there���s no specific image of Baba Hathiram in popular culture. So we have no reference to understand how he dressed or what he looked like when he was around. Zeroing in on the look of the character is going to be crucial. We will begin the discussions in the first week of April and probably arrive at a look for Baba Hathiram,��� says Nagarjuna.
As of now, the scenes of Lord Balaji playing pachikalu (dice) with Hathiram inscribed on the entrance of the Tirumala shrine seem to be the only documentation available for the filmmakers to develop the character. ���Devotees of the Lord of the Seven Hills would know about his penchant for playing with the pachikalu (dice). And legend has it that he used to come to Hathiram���s house every night to play with him. It was during this time that Hathiram had several conversations with the Lord. He shared the stories with his disciples which have been handed down over generations. We will be recreating all of that in the film,��� shares the actor adding, ���Hathiram came to Tirumala all the way from Rajasthan because he had a divine calling. He spent all his time worshipping Lord Venkateshwara. It is believed that the seva programmes held at the temple today ��� suprabhatam, pavalimpu seva, archana etc ��� is the routine he formulated.���