Actor Naveen Polishetty, who was last seen in the hit comedy-drama Jathi Ratnalu (2021), is set to play the lead role in Anaganaga Oka Raju, an upcoming Telugu film. It will be a rural romantic comedy-drama, the director of the film, Kalyan Shankar, tells Silverscreen India.
Anaganaga Oka Raju is produced by the Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas banners and it marks the directorial debut of Kalyan. The makers released the title teaser of the film on social media recently.
Speaking to us about the upcoming film, the director says, “About 80% of Anaganaga Oka Raju will be set in a rural area and we are currently engaged in location scouting for this. The film’s most crucial part is a wedding and Naveen plays the groom. What we have shown in the title teaser is the day before the wedding when the groom is happy and excited about his upcoming nuptials.”
Kalyan adds that the film’s strongest point will be the comedy. “This is a love story set in contemporary times, and it includes a lot of situational comedy. It will be a proper commercial entertainer and we are making it on a big canvas. This is a film intended for the mass audience.”
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The filmmaker, who previously worked as a writer for Jathi Ratnalu, has penned the script for the upcoming film as well. “I had an idea for this script way back in 2017. But it was only when I began to work on Jathi Ratnalu, that I pitched the story to Naveen, sometime in 2019. After a few conversations with him, the film took form as this complete comedy entertainer.”
Anaganaga Oka Raju is set to go on floors in April and the makers are in the process of finalising the rest of the cast. The director notes that film will feature known faces. While S Thaman will be composing the film’s music, the rest of the technical crew is also yet to be confirmed.