Director Mahi V Raghav is set to make a biopic based on the life of the late Chief Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, titled Yatra. According to latest developments, the team is weighing several options to sign on a popular star to play YSR's role and has recently initiated deliberations with Mammootty. "The negotiations are currently on. Although he liked the idea, Mammootty is yet to give the go-ahead to the filmmakers. Besides YSR’s role, the casting process for other roles is underway and an official announcement on the cast and crew will be out soon," informs a source from the production team.
If everything falls into place, the film will mark Mammootty's return to Telugu cinema after 25 years. To be produced by Shashi Devireddy and Vijay Chilla, Yatra is in the pre-production stage.
Peranbu at Rotterdam?
Meanwhile, Mammootty's latest Tamil film Peranbu is likely to premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film, a Tamil-Malayalam bilingual, will have Mammootty back in a Tamil film after 2010's Vandae Maatharam.
Talking about it, director Ram says, "Yes, we were waiting to announce it after Pongal though. On January 27, the film will premiere at the 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam, following which it'll make its way to more film festivals across the globe. It will have its theatrical release in India in Summer 2018, with the exact date to be decided based on the other releases around that time."
Peranbu, starring Anjali Ameer, Sadhana and Samuthirakani in important roles, will feature Mammootty in the role of a middle-class father working as a taxi driver abroad.