Director Atlee, who was in Hyderabad to promote Vijay's Whistle, hinted at doing a straight Telugu film with Junior NTR after completing his debut Hindi movie featuring superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Atlee's most-awaited movie Bigil is slated to hit the screens on October 25. Since Vijay enjoys huge fan following in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the makers are dubbing and releasing it in Telugu as Whistle on the same date. This dubbed version has a good shot to make a splash in the Telugu states as there is no big release for the Diwali weekend!
Mahesh S Koneru, who acquired the distribution rights of Whistle, held a press meet in Hyderabad today as a part of its promotion, which was attended by Atlee, Kathir and five main footballer girls. Mahesh said, "The bookings and demand for Whistle are already extraordinary here. More than a southern film, this is an Indian film. Vijay and Atlee are a proven combo."
Addressing the Whistle press event, Atlee hinted at directing Jr NTR in the near future. "I've got a dream to do a straight TELUGU film, it is happening very soon. For every film of mine, I get a call from Jr NTR sir, he's such a great person. The amount of love I get from the Telugu audience is too high. That's why I want to do a film here."
Atlee does not know Telugu, but his wife Priya is a Telugu. He said that this is his 'maamiyaar veedu' (in-laws' house). The director added, "Vijay made me the person I am today. I owe everything to him. I see a lot of news today about the problems faced by women. That's why I wrote Whistle. I'm confident that the film will work better in Telugu than Tamil."
After the release of Bigil/Whistle, Atlee will take up Shah Rukh Khan's project, which marks his debut in Bollywood. After wrapping it up, he might work with the young tiger. Tamil film critic Sidhu tweeted, "Sooner or later, it does look like @Atlee_dir's Telugu debut will definitely happen with none other than the Tollywood favorite #JrNTR @tarak9999 Many signs at the #WhistlePressEvent this afternoon "
