Actor Junior NTR has not been roped in to play a pivotal role in upcoming multilingual biopic Mahanati, a film on the life of late legendary southern actress Savitri.

"NTR is not part of the project. Whatever you're reading about him playing a crucial role is nothing but plain rumour," a source close to the actor says.

Keerthy Suresh plays Savitri in the film that is being directed by Nag Ashwin. Asked why a biopic on Savitri was being made and not on any other popular actress, Ashwin says, "There have been countless actresses over the last 80 years in Telugu cinema but none have earned the title of Mahanati. And even today it has solely been reserved for Savitri."

The film will be made in Tamil and Telugu, and will also feature Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Dulquer Salmaan and Vijay Deverakonda in crucial roles.