Varun Tej’s yet-untitled space film launched; Aditi Rao Hydari, Lavanya Tripathi to play lead roles

Varun Tej is on a high with back-to-back success of his films Fidaa and Tholiprema. He plays an astronaut in his upcoming yet-untitled space film, to be directed by Ghazi Attack fame Sankalp Reddy. The film was officially launched with a customary pooja in Hyderabad on 19 April. Aditi Rao Hydari and Lavanya Tripathi, who will play the film’s leading ladies, attended the event along with the main crew. The film will be bankrolled by First Frame Entertainment while filmmaker Krish Jagarlamudi, who is currently helming Kangana Ranaut starrer Manikarnika, will co-produce and present it. Producer Rajeev Reddy told Firstpost that they’re on track to begin shooting soon. “We’re all set to begin shooting from April end, 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.” [caption id=“attachment_4440469” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The cast of the movie at the launch/Image from Twitter.[/caption] 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 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. Prashanth Vihari will compose the music. “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.