In an old interview, Murali Mohan revealed that late Uday Kiran was considered for the lead role in 'Athadu', which was Trivikram Srinivas's second directorial.
"After the story was ready, we considered Uday Kiran. I was fond of the actor. However, when we were planning to pitch the story to him, his wedding with Chiranjeevi's daughter was confirmed. After that, Allu Aravind and others took over the responsibility of finalizing Uday's projects. They were not interested in 'Athadu'," Murali Mohan said.
In the event, Uday's wedding with Chiru's daughter got shelved due to unknown reasons (that was before Athadu's release in theatres). It is said that Uday was in a state of depression after his love affair with an Entertainment journalist ended in heartbreak. As per Uday's sister, the actor himself requested Chiru to call off the wedding because of his inability to forget his love.
As for 'Athadu', the script was narrated to Pawan Kalyan as well. During Trivikram's narration, Power Star apparently dozed off. The film has since attained the status of a classic. It is one of the most-watched movies on Telugu TV.
