Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 30, 2017)

Mirror (August 15) had earlier reported that Shraddha Kapoor has been paired opposite Prabhas in Saaho, the Telugu actor’s Hindi- Tamil-Telugu follow-up to Baahubali 2, for which he had started shooting in Hyderabad’s Ramoji Film City on August 18. “It’s shoot time almost after four and a half years of the Baahubali journey. Excited to enter a new action world,” the actor had shared.

Now, Mirror has learnt that Jackie Shroff, Mandira Bedi, Chunky Panday, Mahesh Manjrekar and Tinnu Anand have come on board as the rest of the cast members in the high-octane action-drama. “Mandira, who plays a negative character called Kalki, was shooting in Hyderabad with Jackie till recently. They shot for some action sequences including hand-to-hand combat scenes. Their second schedule will commence shortly,” informs a source close to the production, adding that Chunky, Mahesh and Tinnu have strong supporting roles in the project while international stunt coordinators are directing the action sequences.

Tamil actor and playback singer Arun Vijay and National Award-winning Malayalam actor Lal are also a part of the film. Directed by Sujeeth, Saaho has Neil Nitin Mukesh as the antagonist, who has already shot for some of his portions in Hyderabad. “It is a larger-than-life film and, post Baahubali, the entire nation is rooting for Prabhas. And where there is a mega hero, there will always be a mega villain too,” Neil had earlier told Mirror (June 22). Buzz is, the film will also be shot in Mumbai, Romania and Abu Dhabi and features a score by Shankar- Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya.