Nagaraj Goud

Presently awaiting the release of ‘Lover’, which his nephew Harshith Reddy has shepherded under Sri Venkateswara Creations (SVC), Dil Raju flashed a satisfactory smile when we asked about the how the 24-day Dehradun schedule of his anticipated untitled film with superstar Mahesh Babu gone by. “The Dehradun outing has been extraordinary. The entire unit is brimming with positivity and we are extremely upbeat about the film’s BO prospects,” Raju exulted.

Even before the film, which happens to Mahesh’s 25th, went to sets, it was mired in controversies with producer PVP approaching Madras High Court, claiming that his production house spent Rs. 4 crores on his proposed project with Mahesh and director Vamshi Paidipally before it went into the hands of Raju and Aswini Dutt. Out of court settlement followed early last month, with Raju and Dutt agreeing to take in PVP as one of the producers.

Asked how much Dutt and PVP are involved in the project, Raju, breaking into a smile, declared, “SVC is executing the project. No tensions on floor for me.”

He added, “The next schedule will commence in Hyderabad, followed by schedules in Goa and in Hyderabad again. We will move to US in September.”

The Tollywood heavy hitter also clarified that there isn’t a change in director for Galla Ashok’s debut film, saying that Krishna Reddy (of ‘Aadu Magadra Bujji’ fame) is still in consideration with his adaptation of hit Turkish romantic drama ‘Love Likes Coincidences’. “There’s a script by another young director (Sashi) we are looking at too. We will decide between the two soon.”