Rakul Preet to play late actress Sridevi in NTR biopic

New Delhi: Actress Rakul Preet Singh of 'Aiyaari' fame has been living out of a suitcase for the last few months juggling between the sets of her upcoming films – 'NGK', untitled Ajay Devgn-starrer, 'Karthi 17' and 'SK 14'. And now, the actress is all set to join the cast of NTR biopic. 

The 27-year-old diva will essay the role of late veteran actress Sridevi in the biopic. Not many know that Sridevi starred in almost 14 films with NTR. And some of their popular film together as 'Rowdi Ramudu Konte Krishnudu' and 'Vayyari Bhamalu Vagalamaari Bharthalu'.

Mid Day quoted producer Vishnu Induri as saying that the actress as always their first choice. "We haven't approached Sonakshi, Kangana or Shraddha. Rakul Preet Singh is our only choice as she's popular in the South, especially in Telugu films. We have shot almost 30 percent of the movie; Vidya has already shot for six days. We are working on Rakul's dates for now," the filmmaker said. 

As per sources, Rakul gave a 10-day call sheet for the biopic and she will commence shooting for her portions later this month. Rakul will also give a look test for the film during the weekend. Reports say that her role in the film will be a small one.

Talking about the project, the NTR biopic is one of the most ambitious projects in the Telugu film industry. It will release in two parts and will be titled Kathanayakudu. The first part of the biopic will release in January next year. 

The biopic features an interesting line-up of actors with likes of Vidya Balan, Rana Daggubati, Sumanth, Prakash Raj and Sachin Khedekar. 

The film was officially launched on March 29 in Hyderabad by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. Initially, Teja was chosen to direct the film. However, a month after the launch, Teja opted out of the project citing creative differences with the makers. He was eventually replaced by Krish Jagarlamudi of Kangana Ranaut's 'Manikarnika'.