‘Mahanati’, a biopic of yesteryear actress Savitri that is being produced by Ashwini Dutt, looks to have become his dream project. He has already roped in an ensemble cast – Samantha, Prakash Raj, Anushka, Dulquer Salman etc. in this film starring Keerthy Suresh in lead role. Dutt however is still yearning for the presence of one actor in the film, and he is NTR Jr.

There is no need to reiterate that a biopic on Savithri can’t be made omitting the characters of NTR Sr and ANR. The toughest part for the makers is roping in actors who can do justice to the characters of those two legends. Despite the promising star cast ‘Mahanati’ has, the film is still being treated as a heroine-centric film, so the two actors who would play the roles of NTR and ANR can take the film’s reach to next level.

Dutt is of the opinion that NTR Jr and Naga Chaitanya Akkineni are the best options to play their respective grandfathers on screen. He has approached both the youngsters very long back. Whereas NTR politely refused to act in the film citing he didn’t have the stature to portray his grandfather, Chaitu put forth the condition that he would do the film only if NTR does it.

Rest of the film excluding the scenes involving NTR and ANR’s characters is being canned currently. Makers have Sharwanand and Nani as reserve options to play NTR and ANR respectively but Dutt is still hopeful of convincing NTR to portray his grandfather by showing him the output thus far. If NTR still stands by his apprehension, Dutt will go with Sharwa and Nani.