Nag's Shird Sai Looks Not Very Appealing

The initial stills of Akkineni Nagarjuna in the role of Shirdi Sai Baba for his forthcoming film Shiridi Sai directed by veteran director K Raghavendra Rao are, somehow, not very much appealing to the Sai devotees.

Though it is too early to say how Nagarjuna appears in the actual film when it is shot, some hardcore Sai devotees felt that his looks, as per the stills, do not exactly create a feeling of devotion in them. May be Nagarjuna should have shed some weight and look older in the picture, they say.

Perhaps, the image of Vijaya Chander, who played the character earlier, might have been deeply imprinted in their mind and hence, Nagarjuna might not have appealed to them much.

There is no doubt that Nagarjuna can do justice to any devotional role. There were similar comments initially when he played the roles of Annamayya and Ramadas. But when the films were released, they felt nobody could do justice to these roles than Nagarjuna in the present era. So, one has to wait and see the film before coming to any judgement on the Sai character played by Nagarjuna.

Noted industrialist A Mahesh Reddy is producing the film on Saikrupa Entertainments Pvt Ltd banner. The shooting will begin from February 2 in a village in Karnataka and the first schedule will go on for 25 days. M M Keeravani has already recorded all the songs for this film.