Shriraam, the 2002 action masala film starring Uday Kiran in the lead, was a remake. Co-starring Nuvvu Nenu fame Anita Hassanandani and Ashish Vidyarthi, it was directed by VN Aditya.
Initially, director Aditya wanted to cast Prabhas for the lead role. When he stated his preference for Prabhas, producer Burugapally Siva Rama Krishna asked him to consider Uday Kiran, one of the most popular heroes at that time. Yes, he was more popular than Prabhas.
The director's conviction was that Uday was a family and youthful hero who was not suited for action roles. "Besides casting a misfit for the lead role, Shriraam was promoted the wrong way. Its initial poster gave the impression that it was a love story. The producer wanted to cash in on the Nuvvu Nenu craze at that time. Shriraam was a cop movie. Despite all this, the movie made profits and had a 100-day run in 38 centers. The release of Rajinikanth's Baba had starved our film of many theatres," VN Adiya once said.
