Aditi Rao Hydari to play leading role opposite Varun Tej in Sankalp Reddy's next Telugu film

Varun Tej, last seen on screen in the runaway Telugu hit TholiPrema, is all set to begin work on his next project. It was earlier reported that his next film is going to be a big budget space film in which he’ll be seen playing an astronaut. Now, Firstpost has exclusively learnt that Aditi Hydari Rao is in talks for the project and she’s expected to be signed very soon. Having recently made her Telugu debut with Indraganti Mohan Krishna’s upcoming romantic drama Sammohanam, this is going to be Aditi’s second Telugu outing.

Varun Tej and Aditi Rao Hydari. Image from Twitter/@SwethaAkula2

Talking to Firstpost, producer Rajeev Reddy said: “She’s yet to sign on the dotted line. I’m currently in Mumbai and once I go back to Hyderabad I want to close it. Hopefully, by this weekend we would’ve signed her.” It’s been a great year so far for Aditi, who was recently signed for Mani Ratnam’s upcoming Tamil multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. The project marks her reunion with the Roja filmmaker after last year’s Kaatru Veliyidai.

The yet-untitled project, to be directed by Sankalp Reddy of The Ghazi Attack fame, will be co-produced and presented by filmmaker Krish Jagarlamudi, who is currently helming Kangana Ranaut-starrer Manikarnika.

Rajeev confirmed that they’re on track for shoot in April. “We’re all set to begin shooting from April, provided there’s no delay in the completion of set work.” In an earlier chat, he had said: “After Ghazi, Sankalp has come up with another exciting script. I think the time is over for regular commercial cinema and the need of the hour is to innovate with interesting subjects. Sankalp has great potential and we as a company have been backing different content, so we’re happy to collaborate with him. When I heard the story, both Sankalp and I were in two minds if Varun would be interested in the project. But when he heard the story, he was adamant to do it. His willingness to embrace the project gave us more confidence.”

Rajeev and Varun had previously worked together in National Award-winning war drama Kanche, in which the latter played a soldier. Talking about Varun’s role, he said: “It’s going to be a space film. Varun plays an astronaut. Varun and Sankalp will soon head to Kazakhstan for month-long training in zero gravity conditions. If everything goes as planned, we’re eyeing a year-end release. Most of the shooting will happen outside India. Initially, we planned to shoot in the US, but now we’ve decided to shoot in Georgia where special sets and rigs are being built. We also plan to rope in stuntmen from Hollywood.”

Sankalp is busy finalising the rest of the cast and crew. Gnana Sekhar VS, who had worked on Krish’s Gauthamiputra Satakarni, has been finalised to crank the camera. “We are looking at different options for the rest of the cast and crew. We need to finalise actors and also train them to shoot in zero gravity condition,” Rajeev said.