Mahesh Babu not to opt for body doubles while performing stunts in SSMB29

Hyderabad: If rumours doing the rounds in the industry are to be believed, actor Mahesh Babu, who plays the lead in ace director SS Rajamouli’s upcoming magnum opus, tentatively being referred to as SSMB29, will perform all the stunts in the film himself without opting for a body double.

The grapevine has it that the actor will not be opting for a body double while performing stunts in this film.

The film has consistently been in the news in recent times for a number of reasons. Interestingly, S S Rajamouli has chosen to work with a different cinematographer for this film instead of his favourite cinematographer K K Senthil Kumar.

It may be recalled that KK Senthil Kumar was the cinematographer for a number of blockbusters that Rajamouli directed including films like Magadheera, Baahubali -The Beginning and RRR.

Cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar in an interview to a veranacular media house said that Rajamouli wanted to work with someone new in SSMB29 and that is why he was not there as the cinematographer of the film.

During another interview to promote his upcoming film ‘Junior’, KK Senthil Kumar was asked about the negativity being spread by some citing the claim that heroes used body doubles for action sequences, thereby looking to belittle the effort of the stars in the film.

To this, the cinematographer said, “Audiences are intelligent now. So, audience will know where there are body doubles being used. Audiences are more aware now. I have worked with Prabhas, Charan. They are very hard working. Most of the stunts are done by them only. Very rarely, we tend to use body doubles like in a long shot. But a majority of the stunts are done by the heroes themselves… It is because of such things (people doubting if a body double has been used) that we have to release making videos of films. Even in RRR, both of them (heroes) worked very hard. So, if body doubles are used, audience will realise. Unfortunately, we have to release making videos to show that the heroes are doing the stunts themselves. But I think that is not necessary. If the actor performs really well, the audience also will realise that the hero himself has done the sequence. Speaking of stunts, all the stunts in Junior were done by the hero Kireeti, who is a Parkour enthusiast, himself.”

A considerable portion of SSMB29, which is being made on a lavish budget, was shot at Odisha. The film, apart from Mahesh Babu, features Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran among others. The film, an action adventure with some amount of history and mythology, is expected to be released in 2027.

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