Actress Pooja Hegde, who was recently seen in Hrithik Roshan’s Mohenjo Daro, has been selected to play the female lead alongside Allu Arjun in Duvvada Jagannadham aka DJ.
DJ, directed by Harish Shankar was launched in Hyderabad on 29 Aug. There was much speculation regarding the lead actress in the film, with names of Kajal Aggarwal and Mehreen Kaur being reported as possibilities. IANS then quoted a source from the film unit saying, “Pooja has been finalized as the leading lady for DJ. She plays a contemporary girl in this romantic drama and her role will appeal to all sections of the audience”. Later, Sriniwasa Kumar, who is the PRO for Allu Arjun’s films, tweeted the announcement:
.@hegdepooja selected as female lead in
Stylishstar @alluarjun powerfuldir @harish2you DilRaju’s #DuvvadaJagannadham pic.twitter.com/du7myWzpUD— G Sriniwasa Kumar (@SKNonline) September 15, 2016
Pooja Hegde was the second runner-up in the Miss Universe India contest in 2010. She started her acting career with the Tamil movie, Mugamoodi in 2012. The actress forayed into Tollywood with Oka Laila Kosam and Mukunda in 2014. She made her debut in Bollywood with Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro this year.
Duvvada Jagannadham is slated for a release in the summer of 2017. Shooting of the film will begin late September of early October. A major part of the shoot will take place in Hyderabad, while some scenes will be shot in Hong Kong. Deepak Raj, who worked with Harish Shankar in his 2011 film Mirapakay, will co-write the screenplay with Ramesh Reddy, and Devi Sri Prasad will compose the music. Casting for the supporting roles is still underway.