Mega power star Ram Charan Teja’s Raccha movie has been halted in its tracks at the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) on Friday when a forest official tried to hammer home this point. Director Sampath Nandi planned to shoot a romantic song composed by Mani Sharma as the couple drifted on the mist-shrouded Periyar Lake.

Apparently, Ram Charan in his casuals while Tamanna sporting a skimpy top and skirt and both were ready for the shot. In came the deputy director of the reserve Sanjay Kumar who insisted that the actors wear life jackets as they were venturing out in a boat! “I can’t allow anyone to go boating without a life jacket,” Sanjay Kumar said. Sources say the director was astounded at the order, and when no amount of pleading worked, he called off the shoot.

A source close to Ram Charan Teja who was present at the location said that the matter was ‘blown out of proportion since we had permission to shoot’. He said the shoot on the Periyar Lake did take place, but ‘the two stars wore life jackets as insisted by officials. It will not be seen on screen as we managed with long shots and the rest of the song with the regular film costumes’. The entry of the film unit — 20 vehicles, 100 members — was itself against the rules. The deputy director wanted most of it out of the protected zone. The shoot was then limited to a small portion of a song, but not without the life jacket complication.