Bharat Ane Nenu makers spend Rs 3 cr on pre-release promotions, highest ever for a Telugu film

Superstar Mahesh Babu’s Bharat Ane Nenu is gearing up for grand release on 20 April and its makers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure maximum pre-release buzz is created. Riding high on the popularity of Koratala Siva and Mahesh Babu combo, producer DVV Danayya is spending big bucks to promote the film on never before witnessed scale. Apparently, a whopping Rs 3 crore is being spent on the promotions alone and it’s the highest amount ever spent before for a Telugu film. “As many as 300 hoardings have already been booked for promotional purpose across Hyderabad. The budget set aside for the promotions are Rs 3 crore and the producer is ready to spend even more if required. Mahesh Babu is currently on a holiday with his family in Paris. He returns tomorrow and he’s expected to start promoting from day after,” a source from the film’s unit told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_4422689” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kiara Adavi and Mahesh Babu in a still from Bharat Ane Nenu/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Mahesh Babu is extremely satisfied with the output. He recently gifted Iphone X to all the assistant directors and other important members of the crew who ensured smooth completion of the project on time. The entire team was thrilled with Mahesh’s sweet gesture. Each assistant director received the phone with a hand-written note from Mahesh and his wife Namrata Shirodkar. “It felt so good to be appreciated from Mahesh Babu. After months of toil, when you receive something as sweet as this, you feel overwhelmed,” an assistant director said. Also read: Bharat Ane Nenu: Will Mahesh Babu-Kortala Siva's film revive Telugu cinema's political drama genre? In the film, Mahesh will be seen playing the role of a Chief Minister. At the audio launch, Mahesh said he had his qualms about playing a CM . “When Siva pitched the story, I was slightly scared to play a CM on screen. I’ve always stayed away from politics but I was quite inspired by his story. I think this is my finest performance ever and I’ll cherish the experience of being part of this project.” On his reunion with Siva after Srimanthudu, he said, “Srimanthudu was a huge turning point in my career and I see Bharat Ane Nenu as another turning point. I’ll forever be indebted to Siva.” The film marks the Telugu debut of Kiara Advani, who was all praise for Mahesh in a recent interview to Firstpost : “It’s been an absolute pleasure. Mahesh is so grounded and super easy to work with. He doesn’t make you feel that he is a super-duper star. He is extremely professional and focused. We had a great time working together.” Tamil actor Sarath Kumar will also be seen playing a crucial role in the film, which has music by Devi Sri Prasad. Bharat Ane Nenu was originally supposed to release on 27 April. The makers had to advance the release after superstar Rajinikanth’s Kaala was also announced to release on the same day. In order to avoid a box-office clash with Kaala, the release of Mahesh’s Bharat Ane Nenu was advanced by a week. The film will have a record release in the US where 2000 premiere shows are planned on 19 April. Last week, the film’s overseas distributor Great India Films tweeted: “Bharat Ane Nenu will have 2000 premiere shows on 19 April across USA. Shows will start from 3 PM EST in all the locations.” This means that the Mahesh Babu starrer is assured a monster opening and we can expect some new box-office records to be set. Considering Srimanthudu, the previous collaboration of Mahesh and director Koratala Siva, was a blockbuster, there’s excellent buzz for Bharat Ane Nenu everywhere.