Ramayana-Badri: Movies rejected by Nagarjuna

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma envisioned a grand epic titled Ramayana, with Nagarjuna in the lead role. However, considering RGV's recent track record, the seasoned actor decided to pass on the project, leaving fans to wonder how this ambitious collaboration could have turned out.

Early in his career, Nagarjuna had to forgo a classic film directed by Mani Ratnam. Despite missing out on this opportunity, Nagarjuna and Mani Ratnam joined forces for the 1989 hit Geethanjali, which has since become a beloved classic in Telugu cinema.

Puri Jagannadh initially considered Nagarjuna for the lead in his debut film before settling on Pawan Kalyan. Though Puri had previously worked with Nagarjuna as an assistant director, their professional paths later crossed again in successful collaborations like Super and Shivamani.

In 2000, Nagarjuna passed on a blockbuster movie because he found the story unremarkable and too similar to his previous film, Ramudochadu. Despite director Udayasankar’s pitch, Nagarjuna, who was focusing on family dramas at the time, deemed the project unexciting.

Mani Ratnam originally wanted Nagarjuna for a pivotal role in his classic blockbuster, which eventually starred Rajnikanth and Mammootty. Despite being Ratnam's first choice, Nagarjuna did not take on the role that Mammootty later made famous.