A tug of war over Sukumar

On Monday, there was plenty of buzz in the industry after director Sukumar, who was supposed to work with superstar Mahesh Babu after the blockbuster hit Rangasthalam, suddenly announced a film with Allu Arjun instead.

In fact, till a couple of days ago, the director was travelling with Mahesh and discussing his story. Although Mahesh had asked him to rework parts of it, the actor always maintained that he wanted to work with the director.

While reports surfaced that Mahesh Babu would work with director Anil Ravipudi of F2 fame first as Sukumar needed time to complete his script, the superstar himself never confirmed the reports.

However, in a sudden development on Monday, Allu Arjun’s team announced that Sukumar would be directing the actor’s 20th film and that the shoot would commence shortly. According to a source, top producer Allu Aravind was behind this announcement as he asked Sukumar to work with his son. Incidentally, Mythri Movie Makers, who were supposed to produce the Mahesh Babu-Sukumar film, are producing Allu Arjun’s film with the director.

Mahesh Babu

Interestingly, Allu Arjun had already announced a film with director Trivikram before announcing this film with Sukumar. “It seems the director and the producers announced this Allu Arjun project under pressure,” says a source.

Later in the evening, an irked Mahesh Babu tweeted that Sukumar’s film had been shelved because of creative differences. “Due to creative differences, my film with Sukumar is not happening. I wish him all the best on the announcement of his new project. Respect always for a filmmaker par exellence. 1 Nenokkadine will remain as a cult classic. Enjoyed every moment working on that film. All the best sir for your new film (sic),” announced Mahesh Babu on his Twitter account, hinting that he may not work with Sukumar in the near future.

Mahesh’s team has been quick to blame Allu Aravind and producers Mythri Movie Makers for their overzealousness. However, Allu Arjun’s team insists that Sukumar waited for long and narrated a story to Mahesh that he didn’t like, after which he approached Allu Arjun.

With both star teams pitted against one another, a war of sorts seems to have broken out between the two actors as well. Both the teams however, refused to go on record, saying that this is a very sensitive matter.