Chevella bus tragedy, Naga Chaitanya’s #NC24 team postpones Meenakshi Chaudhary’s character reveal, new date announced

The makers of director Karthik Dandu's mythological thriller, tentatively being referred to as #NC24 and featuring actor Naga Chaitanya in the lead, on Monday announced that they were postponing the reveal of actress Meenakshi Chaudhary's character in the film to Tuesday in the wake of a tragic bus accident in Telangana's Chevella mandal that left at least 17 people dead and several injured.

Taking to its X timeline, Sri Venkateshwara Cine Chitra (SVCC), the production house producing the big budget entertainer, put out a statement that read, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred in Chevella, Rangareddy district. Our heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and prayers for a speedy recovery to the injured.

"In light of this unfortunate event, Team #NC24 has decided to postpone the reveal of Meenakshi Chaudhary's character poster to tomorrow. May strength and peace be with everyone affected by this tragedy.NC24"

It may be recalled that the makers of the film had originally planned to reveal Meenakshi Chaudhary's look in the film at 10.08 am on Monday morning.

The tragic accident occurred around 6.30 a.m. on Monday on the Hyderabad-Bijapur highway near Mirzaguda in Chevella mandal, about 60 km from Hyderabad.

The bus, which was moving to Hyderabad from Tandur, was hit by a concrete-laden tipper truck coming from the opposite direction.

At least, 17 passengers of the bus, including 10 women, died in the collision. The deceased include drivers of both the bus and the truck. There were about 70 passengers aboard the bus, which belonged to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

Meanwhile, NC24 has triggered huge expectations among fans and film buffs. It may be recalled that Naga Chaitanya had disclosed details of this project in an interview to a YouTube channel some months ago.

Naga Chaitanya had said that his upcoming film with director Karthik, who is best known for having directed the horror thriller 'Virupaksha', would be a mythological thriller.

"This will be a very heavy VFX-based cinema and I am very excited about this project," Naga Chaitanya had said. The actor went on to point out that he had not done a film with this kind of span in his 15-year film career.

"This film will be in the zone of adventure, treasure hunting," the actor had said.

Directed by Karthik Dandu, the film is being produced by BVSN Prasad. The film's story has been penned by director Sukumar. The film, which is tentatively being referred to as #NC24, will have cinematography by Neil D Cunha and music by Ajaneesh Loknath. Editing for the film will be by National award winning editor Navin Nooli while Art direction will be by Sri Nagendra Tangala, who also handled the art direction of 'Thandel'.

--IANS

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