Scoop: Sorry,  No Priyanka Chopra With Mahesh Babu

The lengths that media outlets go to for eyeballs!  Pinkvilla has cooked up a whole story  bringing  together Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra for S S Rajamouli’s  untitled  jungle adventure  that  begins shooting early next year.

However  I spoke to  someone very  close  to the project who debunked the  Chopra angle.  “We don’t know where this  came  from. I mean,  Rajamouli hasn’t even  met her(Priyanka Chopra)  for this project. The story claims  Raja has met her  on several occasions  to discuss the project. Could we  have some more details of these  meetings,please? So we would know  how to proceed  with the casting?”

  Angry and sarcastic,  the  source reveals the  casting status. “Apart  from Mahesh Babu, no other actor  has been roped in  for the project. Raja  and his father(writer Vijayendra Prasad) first want to lock in the script. Only then  would  the rest  of  the  cast be decided.And no, Priyanka Chopra is  not  even a  possibility.”

 It is  so easy  to  cook  up stories when a project is in its infancy. The most rumour-centric  projects   of   2024  are Tiger Vs Pathaan  and Rajamouli’s next with Mahesh Babu  in  the lead.The one  never  happened, the other is  a long way from going on the  floors.

An  enterprising portal  had  come up with a story that Mahesh Babu plays  a character  based on Hanuman  in Rajamouli’sproject to be shot in  jungles in various parts  of the world.But when this  writer reached out to Rajamouli’s father  Vijayendra Prasad  who is the writer  of  the Mahesh Babu project,  he denied  any such mythologization of Mahesh Babu’s character.

 So to  set the  record straight:  Only  Mahesh Babu and Rajamouli  have been decided. Any other  addition to the  cast or crew you read about is manufactured. Mahesh Babu plays  a contemporary  character in a the fast-paced jungle adventure.