Since Wednesday, reports have been doing the rounds that the shooting of the Nagarjuna and Dhanush-starrer under director Sekhar Kammula (#DNS) has been cancelled. The film, which was recently launched, was being shot at Garuda Circle, Alipiri (foothills of Tirupati).
As news of the shoot spread, people thronged the location, leading to traffic jams. A complaint was lodged against the filmmakers for disturbing the flow of traffic and inconveniencing devotees to the famous hill shrine. This led authorities to cancel the permission for shooting. Fans were left wondering if the shoot would continue at the same location, or whether the makers would have to shift elsewhere. There were also rumours that the project had hit a roadblock.
When contacted, Puskur Ram Mohan Rao, one of the film’s producers, clarified that the shooting wasn’t cancelled, but that it had been completed. He said permission had been sought only for four hours — from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and they had wrapped up for the day.
“We obtained the required permissions to shoot at Alipiri and we were supposed to start at 7 a.m., but due to bad light, shooting was delayed by 45 minutes. As shooting progressed, many people thronged the venue, and just when we were about to wrap up, more people came and created a slight traffic congestion,” Ram Mohan said.
“After we wrapped up, we shot at other locations in Tirupati. So it was just one day of shooting,” he further added, stating that they wanted the Tirumala Devasthanam as the backdrop in the frame. According to reports, vehicles were diverted to different routes because of the shooting, which resulted in significant traffic congestion, prompting authorities to intervene. Acknowledging that there was indeed a traffic jam, Ram Mohan however said things were always in control.
Videos from Tirupati have gone viral. “We respect the people and their sentiments, so we wanted to shoot calmly without any disturbance,” he asserted.
“We were supposed to start at 7 a.m., but due to bad light, shooting was delayed. When we were about to wrap up, more people came resulting in a slight traffic jam”
