Telugu star Akkineni Nagarjuna is known for his prudence in choosing films. The veteran actor has acted in over 100 films in different languages in his career spanning over three decades. In his illustrious career, the actor has given many hit films. However, like all the actors, Nagarjuna has also rejected several films. Some of them turned out to be commercially and critically successful, while others failed at the box office. Here are a few films rejected by Nagarjuna.
Mechanic Alludu: The film that Nagarjuna was supposed to do went into the hands of Chiranjeevi. The 1993 comedy drama was directed by B Gopal. Nageshwara Rao was also in the film. The film bombed at the box office.
Aahaa: The 1998 film was produced by Nagarjuna but he preferred not to act in it. The Suresh Krissna directorial was made with Jagapathi Babu playing the lead role. The film was based on a good story and it became a hit.
RGV’s Ramayana: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma wanted to do a film named Ramayana with Nagarjuna as the hero. But knowing the reputation of RGV in recent years the veteran actor refused to act in the project.
Mounaragam: Nagarjuna had to give up a classic film early in his career. The film was written and directed by Mani Ratnam. However, Nagarjuna and Mani Ratnam collaborated for Geethanjali in 1989, which is considered a cult hit in Telugu cinema.
Kalisundam Raa: This is 2000 blockbuster movie slipped out of Nagarjuna’s hands as he did not find the story exciting. Director Udayasankar narrated a similar story to Nagarjuna, who was already making family drama films. However, Nagarjuna found the story ordinary one and similar to his earlier film Ramudochadu.
Badri: Puri Jagannadh made his first film with Pawan Kalyan as the hero. But before finalising Pawan Kalyan, Puri had narrated the story to Nagarjuna. Puri Jagannadh had worked with Nagarjuna when he was an assistant director. However, Puri and Nagarjuna later collaborated for movies like Super and Shivamani.
Ponniyin Selvan: Mani Ratnam thought of Nagarjuna as the hero in most of his films after Geethanjali. Mahesh Babu and Nagarjuna were to be seen sharing the screen in the film. However, due to unavoidable reasons, the movie was not made. Mani Ratnam is now doing the same story under the name Ponniyin Selvan: I
Thalapathi: The story of Mani Ratnam’s classic blockbuster was also narrated to Nagarjuna. The film featured Rajnikanth and Mammootty in lead roles. However, Nagarjuna was Mani Ratnam’s first choice for the role played by Mammootty.
