Chennai, Jun 2 (IANS): Telugu filmmaker Gunasekhar, who turns 35 Sunday, will be busy working for his upcoming Telugu period-drama “Rudhramadevi”. He says that they are chasing a deadline and therefore he can't afford to take a day off.

“We are chasing a deadline and, therefore, want to finish the movie as quickly as possible. I won’t be shooting on my birthday, but will be mostly involved with work related to the project. I will have a small family get-together later in the evening to celebrate the day,” Gunasekhar told IANS.

“The film is nearly 30 percent complete. We have completed two songs and some important action sequences,” he added.

Anushka Shetty is reprising the role of queen Rudhramadevi, who was one of the popular women leaders of the Kakatiya dynasty.

“She (Anushka) is a dedicated actress and knows how to extract the best out of herself. The biggest highlight of the film will be the stunts featuring Anushka, which she is doing on her own without any doubles,” he said.

The ensemble cast of the film also has Rana Daggubati, Krishnam Raju, Baba Sehgal, Nathalia Kaur and Aditi Chengappa.

The second schedule of the film will begin from second week of June.

“We will start the second schedule in Hyderabad from next week. We are in the process of erecting a giant set in Annapurna Studios,” said Gunasekhar.

Directed and produced by Gunasekhar, the film is gearing up for an early release next year.