SS Rajamouli at RRR press meet
SS Rajamouli at RRR press meetScreenshot of YouTube video

Baahubali director SS Rajamouli has opened up on considering superstar Mahesh Babu for the role of Alluri Sitarama Raju in his upcoming movie RRR before he roped in Ram Charan for it.

Ever since SS Rajamouli announced RRR, rumour mongers had been relentlessly churning out gossips about its story, cast and crew and roles of Junior NTR and Ram Charan. The director held a press meet on March 14 to put an end to all the speculations. He confirmed the news that Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, Samuthikarani and Daisy Edgar Jones are the part of the cast of the movie.

Talking about the story of RRR, SS Rajamouli said that it is a fictional period drama about revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, who fought against Britishers in two different time zone. The director is coming up with an imaginative story about how their fight could have been if they had joined hands and inspired each other for their movement.

It is known that director V Ramachandra Rao has already made a biographical historical film based on the life of Alluri Sitarama Raju in 1974. The film starring Ghattamaneni Krishna and Vijaya Nirmala has become a super hit at the box office. During the media interaction, a reporter recalled this movie and asked whether he considered the name of Mahesh Babu for the role of Sitarama in his movie RRR.

Mahesh Babu and SS Rajamouli
Mahesh Babu and SS RajamouliCollage of photos taken from Twitter and Facebook

Responding to him, SS Rajamouli did admit that he offered a hint about it to both Mahesh Babu and his fans in an event, but he did not get a satisfactory response from them. Hence, he did not think of casting him. The director said, "Many fans were urging me to rope in Mahesh Babu. In an event of Mahesh Babu's film events, I surprised them by asking what kind of role they want to see him in my movie.

"I asked them whether they would like to see Alluri Sitarama Raju's role, but I didn't get an exciting response. I got a good response when I asked them whether they would like to see James Bond's role. Maybe that is an answer to your questions," added SS Rajamouli, responding to the reporter.

However, SS Rajamouli has roped in Ram Charan and Junior NTR for the roles of Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, respectively in RRR. Alia Bhatt and Daisy Edgar-Jones will be seen in the female leads opposite them in the movie, which is scheduled for grand worldwide release on July 30, 2020.