Niharika Konidela dumped from Ashok Selvan's film and Megha Akash replaces her

Actress Niharika Konidela, the first heroine from the mega family, has been dumped from Tamil actor Ashok Selvan's upcoming film and Megha Akash has been roped in to replace her in the movie.

After starring in few short films, Niharika Konidela entered the Telugu film industry with Oka Manasu in 2016 and she forayed into the Tamil film with Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren in 2018. The actress was set to come back to Kollywood with Ashok Selvan's film. But after her recent engagement, it was rumoured that she may not act in the film, which will be a dramedy.

Swathini, who has earlier worked as assistant director of Susienthiran, is now turning an independent director with Ashok Selvan's yet-to-be-titled film. She confirmed that Megha has replaced Niharika in the movie. "We had signed Niharika for the film and were all set to start shooting from March 20. She had even started learning tango for her role; she plays a tango dancer in it," she told the Times of India.

Swathini added, "She was very involved and was keen to do the film. But then, lockdown happened. It's only now that we've got the go-ahead to shoot and we are planning to go on floors from October. But then, Niharika is getting married in December. She needs her personal space and even though she said she could shoot soon after, we had to work out dates with Ashok Selvan and other artistes as well."

Before finalising Megha Akash, the makers of the movie approached several other actresses, Swathini told the TOI, "So, we decided to part ways mutually. We tried reaching out to a few actresses, but they were reluctant to learn a new dance form and also, there were dates issues as a lot of films were going on floors at the same time."

Swathini added, "She heard the one-liner from her manager and showed interest in the story. When I narrated the script, she agreed immediately. Megha has already learnt salsa and cha-cha-cha; so tango will be a breeze for her. She will start practising the form by the end of this month."

This untitled comedy-drama revolves around a cinematographer (Ashok Selvan) and a tango dancer (Megha Akash). The movie will go on floors from October 27 and she will join them after wrapping her Telugu film next month. The film has a lot of songs and Leon James is composing the music for them.