Vinay Rajkumar in ‘Graamaayana’.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Over the years, Vinay Rajkumar found himself offering different reasons to everyone who asked why Graamaayana had been delayed. “Initially, I was nervous because people had a lot of expectations from the movie despite it being stalled. However, gradually, I got used to the queries about the film and gave different answers,” says the actor.People’s undying interest in the movie was the driving force behind Vinay and director Devanaru Chandru completing the project despite multiple hurdles. “Even if completing Graamaayana took time, we believed in the film because of its subject.” After its launch in 2018, Graamaayana overcame financial and logistical challenges to finally see the light of day on July 3, 2026.“Uncertainty around my project isn’t new to me,” says Vinay. “Not many people know this, but two or three films of mine were launched and never got made. With Graamaayana, we shot around 20-30% of the movie in 2018 before financial issues stopped the production. A couple of years later, our producer (NLN Murthy) passed away during the pandemic. After spending two years with the project with no progress, I moved on to other films,” recollects Vinay.“Pepe proved to be the turning point for Graamaayana,“ he points out. The 2024 rural crime drama indirectly fuelled the relaunch of the stalled project. “Producers KP Sreekanth (Venus Entertainment), Naveen Manoharan, G Manoharan and Laharu Velu (Lahari Films) were keen on making a village-based story. They saw the potential in Graamaayana and decided to bankroll it.”
