Puri Jagannadh spills beans on 'Jana Gana Mana'; reveals why he cast Vijay Deverakonda

Celebrated filmmaker Puri Jagannadh is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming film Liger. The movie will mark the director's maiden collaboration with Vijay Deverakonda and producer Charmme Kaur. While there is still over a week left in the film's release, the trio is all set for their next project Jana Gana Mana. As the makers have kept the details about the film under wraps, filmmaker Puri Jagannadh recently spilt some beans on the movie and also revealed why he cast Vijay Deverakonda.

In a recent conversation with Pinkvilla, Puri Jagannadh opened up on his upcoming project Jana Gana Mana. The filmmaker revealed he wrote the movie a decade ago and was waiting to get the right actor on board to make it. He said, "It’s my dream story, that I wrote around 10 years back. I have been waiting to make it with the right actor."

During the chat, Puri Jagannadh talked about how he had earlier announced the film with South star Mahesh Babu but had to cancel their collaboration. The director revealed, "I had announced it once with Mahesh. Both of us wanted to do it, but the things didn’t materialize then." However, the director revealed Vijay Deverakonda was extremely excited to hear the script. The director also added how the film's team is planning to commence a schedule next month. He quipped, "While doing Liger, Vijay asked me about JGM and I narrated it to him. He got excited by the idea. It’s a very big film and we have got international technicians on board. We are planning a big schedule in Morocco next month."

Talking about the film, producer Charmme Kaur recalled how the filmmaker shared the concept of JGM with the Geetha Govindam star and the latter was "bowled over" by the idea. She further revealed that Deverakonda took the full narration and was immediately on board. "We aim to release it on August 3, 2023. We will be in Morocco for two and a half months to shoot some very high scale war sequences with Hollywood stunt coordinator, Cedric Proust," she added. The movie will also feature Pooja Hegde as the female lead.

Details about Liger

The upcoming sports drama Liger stars Vijay Deverakonda in the lead role of an underdog fighter from Mumbai, who competes in an MMA championship. Apart from the two stars, the movie will also see Ramya Krishnan and Ronit Roy in pivotal roles, while boxing legend Mike Tyson will make a cameo. Helmed by Puri Jagannadh, the movie will hit the theatres on August 25.

Image: Instagram/@purijagannadh/@thedeverakonda