Sunny Deol Signed for ‘Jaat’ After Top Tollywood Actor Declined, Reveals Director

Sunny Deol Signed for ‘Jaat’: Jaat of Sunny Deol, that marked the directorial debut of Tollywood director Gopichand Malineni in Bollywood, was initially offered to some other actor. Speaking to TeluguOne, he revealed that he was actually going to offer the film to Nandamuri Balakrishna but was turned down by him.

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Jaat was first pitched to Balakrishna

He was asked by Gopichand about the stories he pitched as he would now be working with the actor after their 2023 blockbuster Veera Simha Reddy. Upon being asked whether the tale is true that he pitched some other story to Balakrishna before they have their Veera Simha Reddy in 2023, it became a hot topic, he hesitantly said, “Yes, it’s a different story. Actually, the first story I thought of is now Jaat,” confirming that Sunny was not the first one he pitched it to.

Gopichand then explained why he did not do the film with Balakrishna and said, “I had two to three stories actually for Balayya babu. After Akhanda, people had high expectations of him. And, of course, he knew that. I initially pitched him an idea, and he liked it. But after Akhanda was released, he thought it would be better if we did a faction film. I am a huge fan of Samarasimha Reddy and Narasimha Naidu, so we made Veera Simha Reddy.”

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About Jaat

The man actually was much more than happy to switch from Balakrishna to Sunny for the project, as he has expressed happiness about the way the film has been accepted in the north. He said that he visited into theatres and saw people dancing with the title song rolling at the end credits. According to Gopichand, the reception for the film was good, because it was a 'south-style film' with a hero from the north.

Also stars Randeep Hooda and Regena Cassandrra; Jaat revolves around the story of a mysterious stranger who decides to help a village reeling under oppression. The film has grossed over ₹85.65 crores net in India and globally ₹115.10 crores since its release date of 10th April, according to Sacnilk.

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