Harish Shankar faces setbacks as film with Ram Pothineni in doubt

Popular director Harish Shankar is going through tough times. His film with actor Ram Pothineni looking doubtful, the director has dented his ratings with shabbily-made ‘Mr Bachchan’. “Ravi Teja was almost shown as a clown and he was doing nautanki dances of Amitabh and ANR which definitely would have worried a few big stars,” says a producer, who adds, ‘Telugu stars would prefer directors who present them as fearless and larger than life. Any dilution in the character arc will disappoint their fans and audience too,” he adds.

Harish should be banking on his other film with superstar Pawan Kalyan titled ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ but with Pawan set to begin work for OG and "Hari Hara Veera Mallu, his cop story would be delayed a bit. “If Mr Bahchan had been a blockbuster, ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ would have taken off since their teaser was well-received. Industry works on hits and flops of directors and box office results change all the equations and also affect the ongoing projects a bit,’ he points out

However, Harish had his share of blockbusters like ‘Mirapaakai’ and ‘Gabbar Singh’ but his other film ‘Duvvadda Jaganadham’ with Allu Arjun received ‘mixed’ response. “He has to deliver a blockbuster and also gain the confidence of stars and viewers with his next," he concludes.