Chennai, Nov 29 (IANS): Veteran southern actress Kanchana, 77, will be making her comeback as an urban grandmother in Vijay Deverakonda-starrer upcoming Telugu drama "Arjun Reddy".

"It was after great difficulty I managed to get in touch with her. She wasn't easily convinced and it took a long series of discussion to get her on board. She will play an urban grandmother to Vijay, and her role is very crucial. She will join the sets from Wednesday," the film's director Sandeep Vanga told IANS.

In the film, which also stars Jia Sharma, Sanjay Swaroop and Gopinath Bhat, Vijay will be seen playing a medical surgeon.

Asked why Kanchana and not some other senior artiste, he said: "She might be 77, but she makes you feel like she's in her 40s. I wanted a character of her age to understand youngsters' vulnerability and also speak a few lines of English fluently. When I imagined her in the part, she fit the bill perfectly."

Kanchana's last Telugu outing was "Shri Datta Darshanam", which released in 1985. She's also popular for working in other Telugu films such as "Aatma Gowaravam", "Navarathri" and "Private Master".