Mass Maharaja, Venky in Jilla remake?

While Venky has already started getting into the groove of his character, Ravi Teja, we hear, is yet to adjust his dates, as he is set to shift attention to ‘Bengal Tiger’ once he wraps up ‘Kick 2’. Sharrath Marar is producing the remake

Ever since ‘Jilla’, which starred superstars Mohanlal and Vijay in the lead roles, roared at the Tamil Nadu boxoffice early last year, a possible Telugu remake with the fatherson duo of Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan made the rounds for a while. While the news slowly evaporated into thin air, Hans Talkies has learnt that the remake is very much on.

Pawan Kalyan’s friend Sharrath Marar, we hear, has acquired the remake rights and has also taken the likes of Venkatesh and Ravi Teja on board to reprise Mohanlal and Vijay respectively. Points out a source, “Venky has already started prepping up for the role. It is the only project he has green lit as of now.

He will be sporting a beard, a la Mohanlal, in the Telugu version, to be helmed by Veeru Potla. The writer-turned-director is currently giving the script a makeover to suit the Telugu sensibilities; he is also sprinkling it with his trademark tongue-in-cheek humour.”

The source adds, “An official announcement regarding the project will be made only after Ravi Teja, who has a choc-oblock schedule ahead, adjusts his dates for the film. If he is not in a position to make an allocation, it is likely that Marar will move on to another A-lister. The producer is also looking at another partner to join him in the project.” Directed by RT Neason, ‘Jilla’ traced the story of a Madurai don (played by Mohanlal), who brings up his driver’s son as his own after he is killed by a cop.

The son (played by Vijay) grows up with an aversion to cops but to save his father’s crime syndicate, is forced to don the khaki but soon the tables are turned.

NAGARAJ GOUD