SS Rajamouli faces the heat from Dadasaheb Phalke's grandson over biopic

It appears that Dadasaheb Phalke's grandson is not too pleased with SS Rajamouli’s next directorial venture. Chandrashekhar Srikrishna Pusalkar expressed his disapproval of Rajamouli’s project, citing the filmmaker’s failure for not approaching the family before beginning production.

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In an interview with Amar Ujala, he stated that the family cannot be sidelined when making a film about one of its members. Pusalkar said, “I have been hearing discussions about Rajamouli's project, but he never contacted me for it. No one spoke to me on behalf of Rajamouli. If someone is making a film on Phalke ji, then at least the family should be talked to. The family cannot be ignored, it’s we who know the real stories.”

Rajamouli’s take on the famed filmmaker was announced in September 2023, with the tentative title Made in India. Jr NTR is slated to portray Phalke, with the project bankrolled by Varun Gupta of Max Studios and SS Karthikeya of Showing Business.

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It was also recently unveiled by Aamir Khan that a North Indian production of the film is also in the works, reuniting with his 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani. While Pusalkar was surprised by the news, he was more welcoming towards it as the assistant producer Hindukush Bharadwaj had been in close contact with him and the family for several years.

“Aamir-Hirani’s team worked hard to gain trust. Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani’s project was a surprise for me too. I just got to know that they have tied up, but their assistant producer, Hindukush Bhardwaj, has been in touch with me for the last three years. He used to come to meet me again and again, do research, and ask for details. I told him clearly, you guys are working honestly, you go ahead, I have no objection,” he said.

Phalke also has a suggestion on who should play his grandmother, Saraswatibai Phalke. “As far as the actress is concerned, my first choice is Vidya Balan.”

 

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