Gopichand on playing villain in Rajinikanth's Annaatthe: I turned down Siva's proposal

Telugu actor Gopichand has opened up on the reports that he is playing a villain in Rajinikanth's 168^th movie Annaatthe, which is directed by Siva, and said that he politely turned down his proposal.

Of late, it was rumoured that Tollywood hero Gopichand will be playing the main antagonist's role in Super Star Rajinikanth's highly-anticipated film Annaatthe, who would mark his debut in Kollywood. But the actor himself expressed his surprise over the reports.

In the latest interview with a Telugu daily, Gopichand opined that speculations about it might have started due to his repeated meeting with director Siva, who is his good friend. When asked about the negative role in Rajinikanth's film, he said, "I don't know how the rumors about me acting in Rajini sir's film began. Perhaps my friendship with Annaatthe's director Siva led to these rumors."

It is known that Siva directed Gopichand's Souryam and Sankham, before he made it big in Tamil films. The Telugu actor added, "Siva and I meet quite often and he always tells me that he is ready to do a film me. But he is in a good position in Kollywood and is working with top stars. So I politely turn down his proposals to team up."

Gopichand was one of the successful Telugu actors, but of late his career graph is going down in recent years. Since 2015, he has churned out series of flops films like Soukhyam, Goutham Nanda, Oxygen, Aaradugula Bullet, Pantham and Chanakya. He will be next seen in the film Seetimaarr.

Seetimaarr is a sports action film, which is directed by Sampath Nandi and produced by Srinivasa Chitturi. Gopichand is paired with Digangana Suryavanshi, Tamannaah and Bhumika Chawla. The movie was supposed to be released in April, but has been postponed after the theatres were shut due to the lockdown. The makers are yet to announce its new release date.