Star Hero Almost Beat Deva Katta

Before ‘Prastanam’ happened, filmmaker Deva Katta wanted to cast either Malayalam superstar Mammooty or Bollywood star actor Nana Patekar in the crucial role later essayed by Sai Kumar. But things didn’t work out as per his plan.

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“Mammooty almost beat me when I went to ask him for this role. It was a funny episode and coming to Nana Patekar, I tried approaching him but didn’t get access to him as I don’t proper connections or credibility to approach him,” said Dev Katta on choosing Sai Kumar for the crucial role in ‘Prasthanam’.

“I approached Mammooty with the help of Parvathi Melton’s manager. Though he was positive initially, Mammooty was concerned about his image if he plays a 60-year old in Telugu,” and that’s the reason Mammooty had apprehensions playing a father to young actors in ‘Prasthanam’.

Ideally the director wanted Mammooty and Suriya to play the lead roles which were done by Sai Kumar and Sharwanand. “But, I didn’t have previous credibility or big contacts to approach big actors,” opined Deva Katta. Nevertheless, the content proved to be the king and the film is regarded as one of the finest films made in Tollywood.