Naga Chaitanya’s next film, tentatively titled Jesse, has begun it’s latest shooting schedule in New York. The film, which is directed by Gautam Menon, is a bilingual feature that’s being made into Telugu and Tamil at the same time.

The Tamil version is titled Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and stars Sambhu and Trisha, while newcomer Samantha co-stars alongside Chaitu in the Telugu version.

The film was launched in August 2009 at Annapurna Studios. The function was private and open only to members of the immediate shooting crew. In an interview at the launch, Nagarjuna and Chaitu expressed their enthusiasm over working with influential director Gautam and Manjula, Mahesh Babu’s sister.

Manjula and Sanjay Swaroop are producing the film under their home banner, Indira Creations.

Jesse began it’s first shooting schedule in Chennai, then moved to Hyderabad and Kerala in September. The cast and crew were scheduled to fly to the USA in October to finish a schedule lasting three weeks.

Gautam and the production team flew ahead to scout the locations, while Chaitu, Samantha, Sambhu and Trisha landed in New York this past weekend.

According to my sources, the plot revolves around an intense love story similar to Geetanjali. Academy Award winner A R Rehman is composing the music for the films. Details on the rest of the crew are forthcoming.

The film’s makers hope to release the film during Sankranthi 2010, a month after Nagarjuna’s Rummy.