UTV ropes in Mahesh Babu for its Telugu film

New Delhi: UTV Motion Pictures Monday announced its first production in Telugu with superstar Mahesh Babu. To be written and directed by Koratala Siva, the film will go on the floors in July 2014.

The project will be presented in association with Indira Productions. “We are extremely delighted to commence our journey in the Telugu film industry, which is the second biggest industry in India after Hindi films, with our own production starring superstar Mahesh Babu and directed by Koratala Siva," G. Dhananjayan, chief, South Business - Studios, Disney UTV, said in a statement. "We believe in the power of great storytelling and have proven the same in the south with our Malayalam and Tamil slate. Now we venture into Telugu cinema with a story which will appeal to all types of audiences and are gearing up to produce the film on the large scale it deserves,” he added. Mahesh Babu is happy with the association, and said: "(I am) Looking forward to the experience.” For Koratala Siva of "Mirchi" fame, it is his third film with Disney UTV, "that too with the superstar Mahesh Babu". "I am looking forward to commence the pre-production immediately after my current assignment,” he said. The lead heroine, other artistes and technicians for the film are yet to be finalised.