5 Tollywood stars who missed out on blockbuster films

Who knows how their fate will turn out to be? Well, filmmakers approach actors to give their nod to films. While some actors accept, some turn down the offers. It happens occasionally in showbiz that due to several issues like filming dates, dislike for scripts, creative concerns, etc, actors turn down films. And fortunately or unfortunately, some of these films become super hits, possibly making one feel bad for their choices. However, here are five Tollywood stars who missed out on blockbuster films offered to them.

Jr NTR was reportedly Sukumar’s first choice to play the titular character in ‘Arya’, eventually played by Allu Arjun, but the young tiger turned down the role as he thought he was not suitable for romantic love stories. Everybody knows that ‘Arya’ was a milestone film for Allu Arjun even though he made his debut in K Raghavendra Rao directorial film ‘Gangotri’. The actor’s dance moves, his iconic bicycle in the film, fight sequences, his character's fashion sense became a trend upon its release.

Puri Jagannadh initially wanted to cast Power Star Pawan Kalyan, who had appeared in his love drama ‘Badri’ as Badrinath. But he turned down the role as he had already signed another flick. What if Pawan Kalyan uttered the dialogue. "City ki enthomandi commissioner lu vastuntaru potuntaru ….kani chanti gadu eppudu ikkade local”

It would leave the theatres with a thunderstorm of claps and whistles. However, ‘Idiot’ was a big hit in the career of Ravi Teja and the audience saw a future Tollywood star in him.

It’s hard to believe it, but Sumanth Akkineni was considered for the role of Balu in debutant A Karunakaran's ‘Tholi Prema’. The Pawan Kalyan starrer was a cult success and it has proved that it can turn an actor into a Tollywood icon. Of course, Pawan had three consecutive hits in his kitty, but ‘Tholi Prema’ was a remarkable hit in the Telugu film industry. When the Pawan starrer became a classic, the ‘Satyam’ actor felt that turning down ‘Tholi Prema’ wasn’t one of the best decisions of his life.

Prabhas was director SS Rajamouli’s first choice to play the role of Simhadri in ‘Simhadri’ eventually assayed by Jr NTR. Despite not having a blockbuster hit film in his career at that time so far, Prabhas turned down the role of Simhadri because of what he perceived to be a stereotypical portrayal of violence in the film. The role went to Jr NTR instead, who won many accolades for his dashing performance. However, Prabhas and Rajamouli have worked together for ‘Baahubali’, which was a groundbreaking hit and they became global icons.

2006 will forever be known as the year that Mahesh Babu reinvented himself. As Pandu in ‘Pokiri’, he transformed from a carefree unemployed youth to playing the iconic IPS officer Krishna Manohar 57th batch, batch no. 3256. But Pawan Kalyan could have played that intense role in the film. The onscreen magic that Mahesh Babu created in ‘Pokiri’ was originally offered to Pawan Kalyan. He couldn’t do ‘Pokiri’ because it didn’t reportedly fit in his schedule.