Telugu remake of Lucifer, starring Chiranjeevi, commences shoot in Hyderabad

Finally, there's some progress with the Telugu remake of the Malayalam political drama Lucifer (that originally starred Mohanlal, Manju Warrier and Vivek Oberoi in key roles). The untitled Telugu remake, featuring Chiranjeevi in the lead (his 153rd film), is directed by Thani Oruvan filmmaker Mohan Raja. The film's shoot, which faced multiple postponements owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, had commenced in Hyderabad. The team had shot a high-voltage action sequence with Chiranjeevi and several other junior artistes earlier in the day. 

The director Mohan Raja and writer Lakshmi Bhupal have completely tweaked the original to suit the sensibilities of Telugu audiences, with the latter even claiming that the final version of the script is at least '10 times' better than the original. S Thaman had recorded the first song of the film earlier this week. The film's technical crew comprises cinematographer Nirav Shah and art director Suresh Selvarajan. Popular producer RB Choudary is bankrolling the film after a brief sabbatical from Telugu cinema, in collaboration with NV Prasad.

The makers are considering to title the film as 'Godfather', given how the lead character works hard to uphold the legacy of a political patriarch in the story. Chiranjeevi looks as fit as ever in his latest avatar, knocking off a few kilos before the shoot. Satyadev Kancharana and Nayanthara have been finalised to play important roles in the film though the unit hasn't commented about it officially. The Lucifer remake will wrap its shoot in quick time after which Chiranjeevi will shoot for the remake of the Tamil film Vedhalam and director Bobby's mass entertainer. Chiranjeevi is also awaiting the release of Koratala Siva's Acharya in late 2021 or early 2022.