Varmaa, the Tamil remake of Arjun Reddy, marks the debut of Vikram’s son Dhruv, who will reprise Vijay Devarakonda’s role from the original. The project, directed by national award-winning filmmaker Bala, was scheduled for release in March. In a sudden turn of events, the makers of the film last week announced via a statement that they’re scrapping the current version of Varmaa, made by Bala, and plan to re-shoot it with a new cast as they were unhappy with the output of the current version of the film. They went on to reveal that Dhruv will be retained in the new version of the remake.

According to the grapevine, Banita Sandhu, who made her debut with Shoojit Sircar’s October last year, has been roped in as the leading lady for the new version of Varmaa. This project will mark Banita’s Tamil debut. Chennai Times, part of Times of India group, confirmed the news via a tweet on their handle. It is not yet known who will direct the new version of Varmaa, but rumours are doing the rounds that Gautham Menon might take over reins of the project at the behest of Vikram. The makers are in the process of finalising rest of the cast and crew.

Bengali actor Megha Choudhary was roped in to play the role originally played by Shalini Pandey in Varmaa. This project was supposed to mark Megha’s Tamil debut and apparently her expressive eyes caught the attention of Bala, who subsequently auditioned her and brought her on board. The project is being bankrolled by E4 Entertainment, producers of popular Malayalam films such as Ezra and Godha. Varmaa also featured Raiza Wilson and Eswari Rao in crucial roles.

Arjun Reddy, one of the biggest hits in the Telugu film industry last year, was made on a budget of Rs. 5 crore but it went on to rake in Rs. 65 crore at the box office. Its immense success at the box office and critical acclaim prompted several filmmakers to vie for its remake rights.

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