Radha Mohan, who has started the ‘Payanam’ trip, has denied reports that the bilingual with ace Telugu actor Nagarjuna in the lead role was inspired by the infamous Kandahar flight hijack incident.

“Though the film is a thriller, it is not a take-off of the Kandahar episode. Nagarjuna is playing a police officer while Prakash Raj a government official. A new face would be zeroed in on as the heroine,” he says.

“The movie is produced in Tamil by Prakash Raj while its Telugu version by popular producer Dil Raju,” Radha Mohan says and adds: “We wanted Nagarjuna to play the protagonist since he is popular in both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.”

Adding more on the film, he says, “The thriller will also have a human angle to the happenings in the film. Action scenes in ‘Payanam’ would never defy logic. We have started and our next schedule is in Hyderabad from March 15.”