Mahesh 25 to go on floors in June; Vamsi Paidaipally directorial will be predominantly shot in the US

Superstar Mahesh Babu, who is basking in the phenomenal success of _Bharat Ane Nenu_ , will soon commence work on his next yet-untitled project, dubbed as _Mahesh 25_, with director Vamsi Paidipally. The project is slated to go on floors from June and is expected to be predominantly shot in the USA where the team is currently scouting for locations. [caption id=“attachment_4440383” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Mahesh Babu. Facebook[/caption] “Vamsi is currently busy with the recce work in USA. He’s joined by cinematographer KU Mohanan in finalising locations. Major portion of the film will be shot in the States, and the shoot is expected to commence from second or third week of June. The team is currently in New York,” a source told Firstpost. On 30 April, director Vamsi shared the same on Twitter and wrote, “Prepping up for #MB25 with my dearest KU Mohanan sir. Getting to learn a lot professionally and personally from you sir’. And this is how New York can look through his lens.” In an earlier chat with this writer, Paidipally said his film with Mahesh will be big in both their careers. While remaining tight-lipped about the film and its genre, he said, “Mahesh is very excited. When he heard the first narration, he was ready to go ahead. It’s going to be a big film in both of our careers.” The project marks Paidipally’s first collaboration with Mahesh. “Mahesh as an actor is ready to embrace everything. As a director, I really can’t ask for more and that’s what makes this film exciting,” Paidipally said. Cinematographer Mohanan, known for his work in films such as Don, Talaash and Raees forays into Telugu filmdom with this project. Not long ago, it was rumoured that PS Vinod, who had worked with Paidipally on his last project Oopiri, would work on this project as well. Devi Sri Prasad has been roped in to compose music. Pooja Hegde, in her first outing with Mahesh Babu, has been finalised as the leading lady . The rest of the cast and crew will be finalised in the coming weeks. It is worth mentioning that there were recent reports which claimed that Mahesh 25 could be inspired from an international television series. Paidipally addressed these reports via Twitter. He wrote that the reports about Mahesh 25 being based on some TV series are baseless. Meanwhile, Bharat Ane Nenu continues its dream run at the box office. With over Rs 160 crore worldwide gross, the film could emerge as the first Rs 200 crore grosser for Mahesh Babu, who has tasted success after two back-to-back duds. At the thank you meet of the film last week, Mahesh said the success of the film came after two years of tension. “The last two years were emotionally draining and stressful. I don’t know how to react, but I’m relieved and happy with this success. The tension of disappointing my fans over the last two years haunted me. Even though I knew deep down we had made a good film, I wanted audiences to watch and decide,” Mahesh said. Talking about the film in which he played the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, he said he is proud to have been part of it. “There are some films we want to have in our library. Bharat Ane Nenu is one such film which I want to proudly show it to my children.” Mahesh thanked director Siva Koratala for giving him a blockbuster when needed the most. “The success of Srimanthudu came after a lull in my career. Similarly, the success of Bharat Ane Nenu has come at a crucial time.”