Akkineni Nagarjuna’s new devotional film under the direction of K Raghavendra Rao was announced on May 5th in a press meet held at the production house of Sai Krishna Entertainments. The movie titled ‘Shirdi Sai’ will be made under this production banner. M M Keeravani is going to compose music and the songs recording will be done in July. However, the film will hit the sets in November.
The press meet was attended by Nagarjuna, K Raghavendra Rao, Parachuri Gopala Krishna, Parachuri Venkateswara Rao, cameraman S Gopal Reddy, Bhakta Suresh Kumar, producer Maheswara Reddy, etc.
Speaking to the media Parachuri Venkateswara Rao said, “Raghavendra Rao garu narrated the story in Shirdi. I’m a devotee of Saibaba for quite long time. This movie will educate the public that magic is different from miracle. The movie will be crafted in a universal manner by mixing entertaining elements for the devotional story. Producer Maheswara Reddy is a great believer of Lord Saibaba.”
Parachuri Gopalakrishna said, “Saibaba has got lot of miracles in him. Maheswara Reddy garu published a book on the miracles of Saibaba. I too experienced many things after believing in Saibaba. I thank the director and producer for giving me this opportunity to write the script for this film. I sincerely prayed to Lord Saibaba to allow me to pen the dialogues that will become popular worldwide.”
Bhakta Suresh Kumar said, “Even the generation today is offering prayers for Saibaba. People started to believe in him from past 98 years. Before Sai was buried in the Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi, a film was made in Marati and later many films were made in various languages. I thank Raghavendra Rao garu and producer Maheswara Reddy garu for selecting my story. There are a lot of Baba miracles. He is the God who fulfills his devotees wishes very fast. We researched a lot before developing the story. Many miracles that people are not aware will be shown in this film under the direction of K Raghavendra Rao garu.”
Nagarjuna said, “I know very little about Shirdi Saibaba and am trying to gain more knowledge now. I was not affected by the characters I played in ‘Annamayya’ and ‘Sree Ramadasu’ because they were devotees. But from the time I agreed to do this film I’m experiencing sleepless nights. It’s only because Baba is a God and large number of devotees offer him prayers regularly. I will try my level best to do justice to the character and will never let him down through the role I’m going to portray. I consider myself lucky to essay the role of Sai Baba.”
Script: Parachuri Brothers; Story concept: Bhakta Suresh Kumar; Story Assistance: Ponduri Hanumantha Rao; Music: MM Keeravani; Camera: S Gopal Reddy; Art: Bhaskara Raju; Costumes: Rukmini, Bhasha; Presenter: Smt Sulochana; Producer: Maheswara Reddy; Direction: K Raghavendra Rao.
