As we all know, Samantha Akkineni was original choice to portray legendary actress Savitri in director Nag Ashwin’s ambitious project Mahanati. However, they dropped the idea and roped in Keerthy Suresh to essay the challenging role.

Producer Swapna Dutt revealed the real reason behind replacing Samantha with Keerthy Suresh. “Yes, we thought of zeroing in experienced and talented actress like Samantha to play Savitri. However, director Nag Ashwin suggested that a newcomer would be a better choice. Then, we changed our mind and finalized Keerthy Suresh.”

Samantha who missed out to play Mahanati is doing an important role in the film, whereas Dulquar Salmaan, Mohan Babu and Vijay Deverakonda are playing other prominent roles.

Interim, Mahanati is slated for release on March 29th.