Did Jagapathi Babu conspire to bag the villain role in Puri Jagannadh’s ‘ISM’? The actor himself admitted it. Puri Jagannadh wanted to take Prakash Raj for the role. They had been thick friends from the beginning of his career and Puri wrote interesting characters for Prakash Raj even, that went on to become big assets for those movies.
But, Jagapathi wanted the role in ‘ISM’ and hence went to Harikrishna, brother in law of Kalyan Ram who takes care of NTR Arts production activities to manage the role in Puri’s Ism. Even Kalyan Ram didn’t have a say on how Jagapathi Babu bagged the role though Puri wanted Prakash Raj for playing it.
After Jagapathi revealing how he pushed Prakash Raj out of the project during media chat, Puri was left in a fix and gave clarity that he told this story to Prakash Raj five years ago. Not that he wanted him now. When Jagapathi asked Puri, “Am I okay for this role though Prakash Raj is really very talented?”, Puri had to just smile for an answer.
