Ustaad Bhagat Singh Litmus Test for Balakrishna’s Next?

Senior heroes like Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh Daggubati, Nagarjuna Akkineni, and Nandamuri Balakrishna are all busy without any break, constantly listening to stories and working on films. Among them, Balakrishna stands out the most. He balances politics on one side and films on the other, and he rarely slows down.

At present, Balakrishna is fully focused on his 111th film directed by Gopichand Malineni, which is expected to go on floors very soon. At the same time, he is also planning ahead. He wants to prepare another story and complete two films in parallel. For this reason, he has started listening to multiple narrations every week, sometimes two or three stories at a time.

Recently, Dandupalyam director Srinivasa Raju narrated a story to Balakrishna. There is also another collaboration planned between Balakrishna and Anil Ravipudi after Bhagavanth Kesari. However, Anil Ravipudi is currently committed to a film with Venkatesh, and only after completing that project will he focus on a Balakrishna film.

Mass director Harish Shankar has also narrated a story to Balakrishna, and inside reports suggest that Balakrishna liked it. If everything falls into place, this project could become Balakrishna’s 112th film.

Director Krish earlier pitched a sequel to Aditya 369, tentatively referred to as Aditya 999, but that project has stalled. Balakrishna is still searching for a director capable of handling such a prestigious concept.

Meanwhile, fans are not entirely happy about the possibility of Harish Shankar working with Balakrishna. Their concern comes from Harish Shankar’s past, especially after the failure of Ramayya Vastavayya with Jr. NTR. Many fans feel that Harish Shankar is currently not in strong form and still follows an outdated style of filmmaking.

However, the situation can change if Harish Shankar delivers a solid hit with his upcoming film Ustaad Bhagat Singh starring Pawan Kalyan and confidence in him will return. If he can reinvent himself and make this film relevant to today’s audience taste and style, then Harish Shankar’s film with Balakrishna will get more hype among fans. Fans will fully welcome the idea of him directing Balakrishna. But if it fails, fans will seriously hope that Balakrishna chooses some other director for his next film after Gopichand Malineni’s project.