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Monday, 12th May 2014, 07:10 PM IST Family film ‘Manam’, directed by Nagarjuna, will be featuring his father, the late Akkineni Nageswara Rao and his son Chaitanya along with a cameo appearance from none other than Amitabh Bachchan. This will be Big B’s first appearance in a Telugu film. "We didn't want Bachchan Saab's appearance to be made public. We wanted it to be a surprise. But nothing he does can remain undisclosed. It's just a small cameo.I wanted him to honour us with his presence in our family film. My father always thought of Bachchan Saab as one of the finest actors we have. I thought just having him in my film would be an honour to my father's memory. When I asked him he immediately agreed," says Nag. "There is a clamour among Andhra exhibitors to release the film. That feels reassuring.But we have to make sure that we don't succumb to the temptation of taking all the theatres at our disposal. We don't want to saturate the market with too many prints," adds Nag. When asked if he was feeling pressurized, Nag answered "When we started making the film we were not thinking of what other people would think. My father, my son and I wanted to do film together. We're releasing with an unprecedented number of prints on May 23. There are no big films being released on May 23. The election results would be out by then. Luckily for us, even the IPL finals were postponed. So everyone would be in the right frame of mind to see an important film. I don't think I've ever been so nervous about any film." A few scenes could not be completed before Nagajuna’s father’s death. "My father had a very sharp sixth sense. He perhaps knew the end was near. He completed all the important portions of the film. Whatever remained was not crucial to the plot."
Nagarjuna is nervous about how the film will be received by the audience, stating "Of course, there is an anxiety within me. My father's fans are looking on the film as a farewell to him. But we're also very confident because all of us have made it from our hearts. Every technician and actor has put his or her heart and soul in it. ‘Manam’ is a result of our collective prayers."
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