Untitled Srinu Vaitla project

Development

Srinu Vaitla narrated a storyline to Ram Charan in late March 2014 and post the latters approval, Vaitla planned to start work on the films script after completing Aagadu (2014). D. V. V. Danayya, who produced Ram Charans Naayak (2013), announced in late July 2014 that he would produce this film under the banner Universal Media and the pre-production works would begin soon. The production was expected to start in November 2014. The film was shelved post the release of Aagadu and was revived in late October 2014. After returning from a holiday in Kerala, Charan gave his nod in early December 2014 and Vaitla was busy giving final touches to the script which was said to be a fast paced action comedy.

Charan informed the media that the films production would commence in February 2015. My Name is Raju, a phrase picked up from the popular song of Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari (1990) starring Chiranjeevi and Sridevi, was considered as the films title. The makers announced that the film would be a family drama and would be bankrolled by Danayya under his new banner DVV Entertainments. The film was launched officially on 5 March 2015 at Danayyas office in Hyderabad. The film was said to be inspired from the basic plot of the Telugu film Vijetha (1985). The makers contemplated to title the film as Bruce Lee in mid May 2015 considering the protagonists character being a stuntman acting as a body double for actors, which was almost confirmed in early June 2015.

Casting

Post the release of 1: Nenokkadine (2014) and before the release of Lingaa (2014), its female leads Kriti Sanon and Sonakshi Sinha were rumored to sign this film as the female leads. Shruti Haasan was approached in late July 2014 to play the female lead. Her inclusion was almost confirmed, considering her previous collaboration with Charan in Yevadu (2014). Both Danayya and Ram Charan reportedly insisted Vaitla to cast Prakash Raj in a crucial role with whom Vaitla had differences in the past. A source from the films unit told IANS on 1 January 2015 that Samantha Ruth Prabhu was finalised as one of the female leads and the second female lead was yet to be decided.

Vaitla was reported to abstain from casting Brahmanandam in this film making it his fourth film not featuring Brahmanandam after Nee Kosam (1999), Sontham (2002) and Anandamanandamaye (2004). Gopimohan later confirmed Brahmanandams inclusion in the film adding that the character written for him would be one of the highlights of the film. Vaitla reportedly wanted to re-shoot Brahmanandams scenes with N. Santhanam for the Tamil dubbed version similar to the act of S. S. Rajamouli for the casting of Eega (2012) as Chiranjeevi suggested to replace Brahmanandam with Santhanam.

Samantha was replaced by Rakul Preet Singh at the same time. While the lack of dates to accommodate was cited as one reason, budgetary reasons were cited as the other reason. Vaitla considered Ramya Krishnan, Tulasi and Jeevitha from Telugu cinema and also searched for yesteryear heroines in Tamil and Kannada cinema for the role of Charans mother which was very crucial for the films story. Kriti Kharbanda made a comeback to Telugu cinema with this film after the makers narrated her character sketch and the films story. The second female lead was yet to be finalised. Nadhiya and Kashmira Shah were confirmed as a part of the films cast in early June 2015. Impressed by his performance in Velaiyilla Pattathari (2014), the makers cast Amitash Pradhan to play a supporting role marking his Telugu debut. Similarly, Arun Vijay was chosen to play the films antagonist after the makers were impressed with his performance in Yennai Arindhaal. Brahmaji?????s inclusion in the films cast was confirmed in late June 2015. Rao Ramesh confirmed his inclusion in the films cast in early August 2015 before leaving for Bangkok for the films shoot. Days later, Prudhviraj confirmed his inclusion in the films cast.

Characters and appearance

Charan hired Priyanka Chopras trainer Samir Jaura in mid July 2014 to get into shape for this film by following an intensive training program designed by Jaura lasting for four-five months along with a strict diet. Jaura reached Hyderabad and accompanied Charan to the film sets where he worked out before or after the shoot of Govindudu Andarivadele (2014). Vaitla said in an interview that he wanted to put Charans comic skills to the fore with this film, adding that the film would have a "good blend of humour and punch dialogues".

He was later confirmed to be seen as an action choreographer sporting a rugged look for which he had to shed weight by following a tough fitness regimen for four hours a day at his farmhouse in Bangalore. For further training, he left to Bangkok in mid April 2015 where he trained with Jaika stunt team. Action choreographer Kecha Khamphakdee supervised his training which consisted mainly of mixed martial arts. Videos showing Charans kick boxing training sessions were released by Jaika Stunt team on 23 April 2015. He also began learning Karate for his role since mid May 2015.

Kriti Kharbanda was signed in on to play Charans sister in the film. Danayya said that her character would be an important one in the film. She said in an interview that she would play a courageous girl-next-door and added that she was asked by Vaitla to be herself and extremely talkative. Vaitla envisioned a middle aged woman running a manufacturing firm as Charans mother in the film. Amitash Pradhan was signed to play a businessman. While Nadhiya plays his mother, Kriti would play his love interest. He added that his role would be a positive one, unlike his character in Velaiyilla Pattathari. Brahmaji would play the role of a lead actor sporting different attires throughout the film to whom Charan would be seen as a body double sporting the same attires. Arun Vijay called his character a powerful one and would sport a stylish look. Rao Ramesh played the role of Charans father in the film.

Crew

Vaitla was rumored to collaborate with the writer duo Kona Venkat-Gopimohan for this film with whom he had differences in the past. Kona Venkat-Gopimohan were working on the films script in United States in late November 2014. S. Thaman and Sameer Reddy were reported to be the music director and cinematographer of the film respectively. Kona Venkat confirmed that he would be working with Vaitla again for this film after Charan convinced him to put aside their personal differences adding that he discussed the script with Vaitla and got an approval from Charan.

Gopimohan confirmed the same adding that this films script would have no traces of their past works. Anirudh Ravichander was signed in on to compose the films music marking his debut in Telugu cinema and also making this film the third Charans film to have music composed by a Tamil music composer. He met Charan at his house in Hyderabad in early February 2015 and Danayya, Vaitla and others were also present during the meeting. He accepted to be a part of the film after liking the films script.

Manoj Paramahamsa was signed in on as the films director of photography. The makers announced that Kona Venkat would pen the dialogues and co-write the films script along with Gopimohan while Vaitla himself would pen the films screenplay. Anirudh walked out of the project in late March 2015 and was subsequently replaced by S. Thaman who collaborated with Vaitla for Dookudu (2011), Baadshah (2013) and Aagadu (2014). Thaman confirmed the same through his twitter page later.

Filming

Principal photography began on 16 March 2015 at Hyderabad and the films principal cast participated in the shoot. In late April 2015, Rakul Preet Singhs manager told media that she has allotted 15 days per month for the upcoming three months for this films shoot. Charan was reported to join the films sets on 27 April 2015 after returning from Bangkok. That schedule was dropped and a fresh schedule began from 21 May 2015 to shoot two duets on Charan and Rakul Preet Singh in Spain till 30 May 2015. The next schedule began from 3 June 2015 at Hydeabad which was announced last till the completion of the films shoot. Initially, few action sequences were shot in the old city area of Hyderabad. On 15 June 2015, Charan revealed through his official Facebook page that filming of two songs, interval fight sequences and a few scenes have been completed till then. After a month, the makers revealed that 40% of the films shoot is complete. Filming continued at Bangkok where crucial scenes on the films principal cast were shot till 12 August 2015. The next schedule was planned at Hyderabad from the next day.

Release

Danayya planned to release the film on 15 October 2015, a week ahead of Dusherra, clashing with Mahesh Babu???s Brahmotsavam and Nandamuri Balakrishna?????s Dictator, his 99th film as an actor. The overseas theatrical distribution rights were acquired by Great India Films in mid July 2015. The television broadcast rights of the original and Hindi dubbed versions were acquired by Zee TV. Zee Music acquired the marketing rights of the films soundtrack.

Marketing

Two posters featuring Ram Charan were released on 27 March 2015 on the eve of his birthday. The posters featured no title.