Actor Yash is in talks for director Puri Jagannadh’s Jana Gana Mana, which was initially announced with Mahesh Babu in the lead. The film is likely to go on floors in 2020.
A source close to Yash told Silverscreen that he met the director recently and talks are on, but has not given his confirmation yet.
According to Cinema Express, the duo will meet soon for the final narration. “Puri always wanted to make Jana Gana Mana keeping a pan-India audience in mind. The story is a take on the gruesome murders, rapes and crimes that have shaken our nation over the last few years. The director sat twice with Yash to discuss the script in Bengaluru, and will meet again for the final narration,” a source said.
The film will be shot in Telugu and Kannada, and later be dubbed in Tamil and Hindi.
The film was announced some years ago with Mahesh Babu in the lead, and the director had said on Twitter, “I assure you that this time he will be more ruthless than Pokiri and more powerful than Businessman.”
You all know my love for @urstrulymahesh. I assure you that this time he will be more ruthless than POKIRI n more powerful than BUSINESSMAN
— PURIJAGAN (@purijagan) April 28, 2016
Reports say that Mahesh Babu had to opt out due to unknown reasons.
The film was scheduled to begin in 2016 but faced delays, and director Puri moved on to work on his recent release iShankar, the action film starring Ram Pothineni, Nabha Natesh, Nidhhi Agerwal and Satyadev Kancharana. It has had a successful box-office run, and the director is also planning a sequel to the film, titled Double iSmart.
Meanwhile, Yash is busy with shoot for the much-awaited KGF: Chapter II, directed by Prashanth Neel. A poster of Sanjay Dutt, who plays the villain named Adheera in the film, has just released. Both Yash and Sanjay Dutt shared the poster on Instagram:
The film is a continuation of the first part, set in Kolar Gold Fields, and will feature Yash as gangster Rocky, with Srinidhi Shetty reprising her role as his love. Raveena Tandon is also said to play an important role.
