Mammootty to play YSR in his biopic

It’s official. Malayalam super star Mammootty will be essaying the role of

YS Rajasekhar Reddy

, Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh, in the biopic Yatra. Mammootty will begin shooting for the film, which will
focus on the famous ‘

Padayatra

’ undertaken by the late YSR in 2004, in June. Confirming the news, director Mahi V Raghav says, “Yes, Mammootty sir has agreed to do the lead role. The film will be made on a lavish scale and a lot of homework will go into it. I’ll be meeting Mammootty sir soon and we will work on the characterisation together.”
Mahi however dismisses speculation that Tamil star Suriya had been approached for the role of YS Jagan (YSR’s son and leader of the main Opposition Party in the AP Assembly) and Nayanthara, for the role of YS Vijayamma (YSR’s wife). “No! Those rumours are completely false. We haven’t approached anybody else yet. So far, my sole focus till date was on getting the right actor for the lead role. Now that it’s been
finalised, I will work on the rest of the cast,” Mahi adds.