The blockuster 1995 Telugu film Pedarayudu starring Mohan Babu, Rajinikanth, Soundarya and Bhanupriya celebrated 25 years on Monday, June 15. Directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty, Pedarayudu was a remake of the Tamil super hit Nattamai starring Sarathkumar, Khushboo, Meena and Vijaykumar. Keeping the basic storyline of K S Ravi Kumar intact from the original, Pedarayudu was adapted to suit the Telugu region, with the highlight being Rajinikanth’s brief role as Mohan Babu’s father.
Actor Mohan Babu shared a throwback video from the film’s launch on social media, offering glimpses of late actor and former chief minister N T Rama Rao attending the puja and sounding the clapboard for the first shot featuring Rajinikanth and Mohan Babu. Also present during the high-profile film puja were D Ramanaidu, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Dasari Narayana Rao. Rajinikanth was dressed to play his part and one cannot miss noticing his trademark flip of the shoulder towel.
For this film, Rajinikanth’s voice was dubbed by actor Saikumar. This part was enacted by Vijaykumar in the Tamil version and appears in flashback. Rajinikanth was instrumental in helping his good friend Mohan Babu bag the rights to remake the Tamil version and he was eager to take up the brief part done by Vijaykumar in the Tamil original.
