Chennai, Jun 2 (IANS): Malayalam actor Sreejith Vijay will play Puttaparthi Sai Baba in the eponymous Telugu biopic on the godman. The film, which will also be released in other southern languages, is being directed by veteran Telugu filmmaker Kodi Ramakrishna.
"We've already completed 40 percent of the shoot. In another five-six months, we should be able to wrap up the project. Sreejith plays Sai Baba, and he's amazing in the role. The film also features several members from Sai Baba's mission," Ramakrishna told IANS.
Popular Malayalam star Dileep was initially stoked about playing Sai Baba.
"Dileep is a great actor but he's a bigger star. He was really interested to be part of the project. I feared his star image might come in the way of playing Sai Baba. Hence, I decided to go with someone who isn't relatively known to everybody. Sreejith is not so popular but he's a talented actor," he said.
The film will track the journey of Sai Babu from the time he was a 10-day boy till his death.
"Puttaparthi Sai Babu" will be Kodi Ramakrishna's 138th directorial.