Director Gopichand Malineni reveals Nandamuri Balakrishna was his first choice for Jaat

Jaat filmmaker Gopichand Malineni shares inside details of the film's casting

Sunny Deol is riding on the success of his recently released film Jaat. The film is still running in the theatres and has received positive reviews from the audience and critics alike.

However, the filmmaker Gopichand Malineni has recently revealed that Sunny Deol was not his first choice for the film. Instead, he wanted to cast a Tollywood superstar.

In a recent interview with TeluguOne, the director revealed that he initially pitched the script to Nandamuri Balakrishna, but he turned it down. While reflecting on the projects that Gopichand had pitched to Balakrishna, he added, “Yes, it’s a different story. Actually, the first story I thought of is now Jaat.”

He confirmed that Deol was not the first one he pitched the film to and explained, “I had two to three stories actually for Balayya babu. After Akhanda, people had high expectations of him. And, of course, he knew that.”

He added, “I initially pitched him an idea, and he liked it. But after Akhanda was released, he thought it would be better if we did a faction film. I am a huge fan of Samarasimha Reddy and Narasimha Naidu, so we made Veera Simha Reddy.”

Gopichand and Balakrishna have previously worked on the 2023 hit Veera Simha Reddy. They will also collaborate on a Tamil film produced by Sudhakar Cherukuri of SLVC.

Also Read: Nandamuri Balakrishna reacts to getting Padma Bhushan award, says, "I have completed 50 years as an actor..."

Meanwhile, Nandamuri Balakrishna has recently made headlines for earning a Padma Bhushan award from President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Monday.

On the work front, Balakrishna will next star in Akhanda 2. There have been rumours that actors Samyuktha and Aadhi Pinisetty will also be part of the cast.

Meanwhile, Sunny Deol has recently started shooting for Border 2 in Dehradun. He has also announced Jaat 2.