Maryada Ramanna, which started shooting in mid-September has begun it’s second shooting schedule in Hyderabad. The film, starring Sunil and Solani Aswani, is directed by S S Rajamouli and produced by Sobha Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni under the Arka Media Works banner.

After the big-budget fantasy epic Magadheera, Rajamouli wanted to tackle a lighter project and settled on this historical comedy.

The basic storyline was provided by Mullapudi Vara and it was developed into a complete script by Kanchi. According to my sources, the title character Maryada Ramanna is the heroine’s father. As far as the supporting cast goes, Brahmanandam has been roped in to play a pivotal role. Heroine Saloni Aswani, who was previously seen in Maa Voori Lo and Chukkallo Chandrudu, is making her Telugu comeback with this film. Incidentally, Saloni did an item song in Magadheera.

SS Rajamouli said: “The film Maryada Ramanna is a comedy thriller and is set in the backdrop of Rayalaseema. Sunil is apt for this film and he playing a serious role for the first time in this movie. There is also a plenty of scope for comedy in this film. We are mainly focusing on Rayalaseema hospitality in this flick.”

Producer Shobu Yarlagadda said: “This is our first movie on our Arka Media Works banner. We made several serials TV serials in the past. There are 5 songs in the film. Nagineedu (of Prasad Labs) and Brahmanandam are playing key roles in the film.” Arka Media Works is the same banner that’s producing Allu Arjun’s Vedam.

Sunil said “After Andala Ramudu, I listened to many stories but was not impressed. But I was very excited after listening to this script. It is a fabulous story and mine is a challenging role. I was supposed to do a film with Rajamouli under this banner long ago but the time has come now for us to work together.”

As for the rest of the crew: M M Keeravani is composing the music, Shyam K Naidu is handling the camera, Kanchi wrote the script based on Mullapudi Vara’s story, Ravinder is overseeing the Art and Rama Rajamouli is in charge of the costumes. Originally, Chota K Naidu was hired for the cinematography, but due to scheduling conflicts with NTR Jr’s upcoming Adurs, he was replaced with Shyam K Naidu.

Currently, the audio release for Maryada Ramanna is scheduled for December, and the film release is slated for Sankranthi 2010.