That Is Mahalakshmi

''That Is Mahalakshmi'' is an unreleased Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by Prasanth Varma, produced by Manu Kumaran, and bankrolled by Taizoon Khorakiwala. The film is a remake of the 2014 Hindi film ''Queen''. The film stars Tamannaah, with Shibani Dandekar, Roopa Lakshmi, Samarth Ashok Hegde, Geetanjali and CVL Narasimha Rao in supporting roles.

Cast

* Tamannaah as Mahalakshmi
* Shibani Dandekar as Vijaylakshmi
* Siddu Jonnalagadda
* Geethanjali
* C. V. L. Narasimha Rao
* Guillermo Uria Viar
* Chinmaya Agrawal
* Jeffrey Ho
* Nikos Vatikiotis
* Geetanjali
* Roopa Lakshmi
* Clifton Brown
* Samarth Ashok Hegde
* Aram Arakelyan as Constantin

Production

In June 2014, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, the producers of the Hindi film ''Queen'' (2014), made an official announcement that they hold sold the remake rights for the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada versions of their film to Thiagarajan, who would make the films through his production studio, Staar Movies. Viacom put a caveat in the agreement that the principal photography of any of the films must start by 8 June 2017, else the rights would revert to Viacom. Soon after the announcement in June 2014, several Indian directors and actresses expressed their desire to do the film, but Thiagarajan maintained that no one had been finalised and that he was still considering his options. Thiagarajan announced his potential plans of casting Lisa Haydon to reprise her supporting role and for his son Prashanth to act in the film, but remarked that he was unsure if Prashanth would accept to play a character with "grey shades". Samantha held discussions about portraying the film's lead role during July 2014, but turned the film down after being unconvinced about the way the original script was set to be adapted into the South Indian languages.

After a period of inactivity and further media reports about the casting of the lead actress, Thiagarajan revealed in February 2016 that he had signed on Revathi to direct the Tamil version of the film, while Suhasini would work as the dialogue writer. Soon after, Nayanthara turned down the opportunity to work on the film citing scheduling issues during early 2016. In mid-2016, Trisha was also approached to play the lead role but conflicting schedules meant that she could not sign on to appear in the film. The media also linked actresses Parvathy and Nithya Menen to the lead role, but neither were signed on. During an interaction with the media in November 2016, Thiagarajan revealed that he had finalised Revathi to direct the Tamil and Malayalam versions of the film, while Anish Kuruvilla and Prakash Raj would make the Telugu and Kannada versions respectively. He added that Tamannaah would feature in the lead role of the Tamil version, while Amala Paul and Parul Yadav would reprise the role in the Malayalam and Kannada versions respectively. He also stated that Amy Jackson was signed on to feature in all four versions of the film in the role originally portrayed by Lisa Haydon. In April 2017, Tamannaah stated that the film was shelved, though Thiagarajan refuted her claim and stated that production would begin in May 2017. He revealed that talks with the actress to play the lead role had fallen through after a dispute over her remuneration for the lead role.

In June 2017, further confusion about the remake arose after two separate production houses apart from Thiagarajan's Staar Movies had claimed rights to the film. As per a contract signed on 30 July 2016, Staar Movies agreed to enter into a co-production agreement with Mediente International Films Ltd and Liger Commercial Brokers for the making of the films. However a mutual cancellation form was then signed between the parties on 5 April 2017 after Mediente allegedly failed to pay the consideration provided under the agreement. Then, as per a contract signed on 21 April 2017, Staar Movies agreed to assign the rights of all four South Indian versions of ''Queen'' to Golden Crab Film Production Ltd. In order to avoid the reversion of rights back to Viacom due to three years of inactivity, Staar Movies and Golden Crab swiftly began shooting the film on 17 May 2017 with a series of supporting actors including Nassar under the title of ''Vaanil Thedi Nindren''. However, on 3 June 2017, Staar Movies again assigned and transferred the remake rights of the film to Mediente and Liger, with the Kannada version of the film titled ''Butterfly'' featuring Parul Yadav, starting immediately with Ramesh Aravind taking over as director. Staar Movies then produced a declaration affidavit on 14 June 2017 that any agreement with Golden Crab Films was false.

Kajal Aggarwal revealed in August 2017 that she had agreed terms to play the lead role in the Tamil version of the film, which would also be directed by Ramesh Aravind and produced by Mediente, and that the film's shoot would begin in September 2017. In September 2017, it was revealed that Tamannaah would work on the Telugu version of the film which would be directed by Neelakanta. Amala Paul also opted out of the Malayalam version citing date issues and was later replaced by Manjima Mohan. Amy Jackson was initially in talks to play the role Lisa Haydon played in ''Queen'' however opted out due to unavailability of dates and creative differences. Filming began on 2 November 2017. Two months later, Neelakanta left the film, and was replaced by Prashanth Varma. However, Neelakanta soon decided to direct the Malayalam remake titled '' Zam Zam''.

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by Amit Trivedi and lyrics are by Krishna Kanth. The songs were released under Zee Music Company on 1 September 2020.

See also

* Paris Paris
*Butterfly
* Zam Zam

References

External links

*
{{Prasanth Varma

Films about women in India
Films directed by Prasanth Varma
Films scored by Amit Trivedi
Films set in Barcelona
Films set in London
Films set in Paris
Films shot in Barcelona
Films shot in France
Films shot in India
Films shot in London
Films shot in Mysore
Films shot in Paris
Films shot in Spain
Films scored by Arjuna Harjai
Films shot in the United Kingdom
Indian comedy-drama films
Telugu remakes of Hindi films
Upcoming Telugu-language films
Upcoming Indian films
Films shot in Rajahmundry
Films set in Konaseema
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Films set in Rajahmundry