Pooja Hegde snatches Naga Chaitanya's film away from Rashmika Mandanna?

After the blockbuster success of Geetha Govindam, director Parasuram is teaming up with Naga Chaitanya. They are collaborating for a comedy entertainer to be funded by 14 Reels Productions.

The hunt for the female lead is on for a while. There were rumours earlier that Pooja Hegde and Rashmika Mandanna were the front-runners for the role, but it now looks like the former has snatched the film away from the latter.

Going by the rumours mills, Parasuram has been keen on casting Rashmika Mandanna opposite Naga Chaitanya. His good working relationship in Geetha Govindam and the string of successful movies are said to be the reasons why the director wanted the girl from the Coorg to cast her in the female lead role.

On the other side, the producer is keen on roping in Pooja Hegde and had paid a fancy advance amount when she was part of the company's earlier movie Gaddalakonda Ganesh. The makers finally made their minds on the heroine after Naga Chaitanya preferred Pooja to Rashmika, say reports.

It may be recalled that Naga Chaitanya had earlier worked with Pooja Hegde in Oka Laila Kosam. Currently, she is working with the actor's younger brother Akhil in Most Eligible Bachelor.

As a result, Rashmika Mandanna has missed out an opportunity to share screen space with Naga Chaitanya. Nonetheless, she is getting lots of offers. Especially, after the success of Bheeshma, she is being approached by many filmmakers.

Currently, Rashmika Mandanna is working on Karthi's Tamil film Sultan, which will be also dubbed into Telugu. Her long-delayed Kannada project Pogaru is getting ready for release.