Mammootty’s Yatra, a biopic on former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Rajasekhar Reddy, is slated for release in December. Mahi V Raghav is the director.
When Mammootty signed this prestigious project he put a condition to the producers that there shouldn’t be any other prominent actor in the film. The makers felt Mammootty is a perfect fit for Rajasekhar Reddy’s role and roped him. Director thought he could convince Mammootty and cast a notable face for YS Jagan’s role which was supposed to be a brief appearance.
They considered several options like Suriya, Vijay Devarakonda, Karthi, Vishal etc. But, Mammootty was reluctant to cast these heroes for Jagan’s role. Finally, they wanted to rope in Mammootty’s son Dulqueer Salmaan. But, they couldn’t convince Mammootty and he threatened to walk of the project midway if they cast a known face for Jagan’s role. With no options left, the director had to leave out Jagan’s role in his script as it would be of real impact if they bring an unknown actor for that character.
Without Jagan’s role and the fact that there are no other prominent actors in this much awaited biopic, the hype has slowly fizzled out. The project has now lost sheen and Mammootty’s ego is one of the main reasons for it.