Did Sukumar approach Jr NTR before Allu Arjun for Mahesh Babu's rejected project?

Director Sukumar is rumoured to have approached Junior NTR for his next project after Mahesh Babu rejected it. But with the young tiger is not showing interest and has teamed up with Allu Arjun.

Mahesh Babu's second film with Sukumar had been creating a lot of buzz in the media for more than six months. The superstar went on to put all the speculations to rest, by making an announcement about it. But his sudden decision to walk out of this project has fueled several speculations, which are the talk of the T-Town now.

It is rumoured that Sukumar learned from his sources that Mahesh Babu had decided to call of his project in a bid to work with director Anil Ravipudi. Well in advance, the director was said to have narrated this story to Junior NTR and asked him to announce that they would be working together soon.

It is said that Junior NTR was said to be impressed with it, but could not commit for this project. The reason is that the young tiger is currently focusing on SS Rajamouli's upcoming movie RRR starring Ram Charan alongside him. Hence, he rejected Sukumar's request, saying he doesn't want to talk about his future projects until he is done with the present film.

This most-talked-about project is said to be set against the backdrop of red sanders (Erra Chandanam) in Seshachalam Hills and smuggling will be its core plot point. After Jr NTR rejected it, Sukumar approached stylish star Allu Arjun, who has earlier worked with him in Arya and Arya 2. The actor was impressed with the script and agreed to work with him for the third time.

However, Mahesh Babu has already made it clear that creative differences are the reason for him to opt of this project. But a strange buzz claims that it is a caste war. It rumoured that Mahesh Babu wanted to encourage talents from his caste and he chose to work with Anil Ravipudi, who belongs to his caste. On the other hand, Allu Arjun came to Sukumar's rescue, as the director belongs to his caste.