Vijayanand actor Bharat Bopanna headed to Tollywood?

Bharat Bopanna’s current bearded look has not only found him a new fan following, but film offers too from across the border. The Brahmagantu fame actor, whose release this week, Vijayanand, is currently in theatres and technically gave him a debut in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi too, has been approached for a straight Telugu film, sources tell us. When we checked with the actor, he confirmed the development, but added that it was too early to talk about it. “Finer details about the cast and crew are still being worked out. Formal announcements are likely by the end of the month,” he tells us.

Meanwhile, his Tamil film with AL Vijay, which has Arun Vijay and Amy Jackson in the lead, is nearly complete. “I have about five days’ worth of shoot pending on Achcham Enbathu Illay. The film is shaping up really nicely. I play the main antagonist in the film, a role that will literally make audiences hate me. It is a very well written character, which Vijay sir offered me four years after our first meeting. I must have made quite an impression back then that he actually remembered me and gave me this role, which, I am sure, will be a turning point in my career,” says Bharat, who shot for the first schedule of the film in London earlier this year.

As for his release this week, Vijayanand, Bharat is seen in the role of Anand Sankeshwar, the managing director of one of India’s largest logistics firms, Vijayanand Roadlines Ltd (VRL). The film is the first biopic from Karnataka, directed by Rishika Sharma, with Nihal Rajput playing the protagonist and Bharat’s onscreen father, Vijay Sankeshwar. Produced by Anand as a tribute to his father and as the first venture of their newly-launched film division, VRL Film Productions, the film explores Vijay’s journey from owning only one truck to growing it into a nearly 5,000-strong fleet of cargo and passenger vehicles.