Anushka Shetty and Nagarjuna from Om Namo Venkatesaya. (Source: Twitter)
Among the contemporary releases in devotional film genre in Tollywood, we have seen some great hits like Annamayya and Sri Ramadasu. The coincidence is that both the films starred Nagarjuna and both were directed by Raghavendra Rao.
While Annamayya’s story was based on Annamacharya, a musician who composed songs in praise of god Venkateswara in 15th century, ONV tells the story of north Indian saint Hathiram Baba who visited Tirumala, the abode of Balaji, in 1500s. So, why to make another biographical film from the perspective of another follower of the same god in the same combination?
Om Namo Venkatesaya is like a sequel to Nag’s blockbuster hit Annamayya. Both the films have the actor playing an ardent follower of Lord Venkatesha or Balaji. Except in this one Nagarjuna seems more aggressive and violent than the Annamayya.
Nag has to match up to the acting brilliance he showed in Annamayya, while at the same time avoiding any chance of repetition as the theme and story outline of the both the films are very closely constructed. The trailer, however, has nothing new to show except that sophisticated visual effects were used in the film.
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Meanwhile, reports suggest that the satellite rights of all versions of the film were clinched by ETV for a whopping sum of Rs 12.5 crore. Nagarjuna’s earlier film Annamayya got huge TRPs for the channel too.
ONV also recently came into news after a 10-minute clip was leaked by the same gang that had stolen the Baahubali 2’s climax war sequence. However, the clip wasn’t shared online and the filmmakers could avert the damage. Reportedly, the flash drive that was seized by the police also contained moments from ONV.
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