Vinay Rajkumar, who has completed the shoot for Ananthu v/s Nusrath, was supposed to start shooting for Sridhar’s directorial Appa Amma Preethi. But we hear that the actor has dropped the film. Instead, he is associating with another film and director. The Siddharatha-hero will now be part of Gramayana, a thriller and village-based drama to be directed by Devanuru Chandru.

Producer NLN Murthy, who was earlier associated with Appa Amma Preethi, will now be producing this film, our sources tell us. “The makers are going ahead with the script puja of Gramayana today and Vinay will begin shooting from September,” the source adds.

Appa Amma Preethi was to be directed by debutant Sridhar, who had officially announced the film. Malayalam heroine Manasa Radhakrishnan had also been roped in. The director had even managed to bring on board actor Sarath Kumar, and had approached Khushbu to play a pivotal role. But the project now seems to be put on the backbunner, as the subject of the film turned controversial even before it could take off. And without wasting any further time, Vinay has decided to go ahead with his next best option, Gramayana.