As Aditya 369 celebrates its 25th anniversary today, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao made it a point to say that the sequel (Aditya 999) that was to be Balakrishna's 100th film, is very much alive. "I was to direct it as his 100th movie. But eventually Gautamiputra Satakarni happened. It doesn't mean that the project is shelved. I will do it with Balakrishna whenever he is ready. The story board is ready. It's true that Mokshagna has a very interesting role for him in the script," he said.

However, Balayya's calendar is choc-a-bloc with projects for the next few years. His next films are going to be with Krishna Vamsi (Rythu), Boyapati Sreenu and Anil Ravipudi (Rama Rao Garu). Given this reality, when is Singeetam going to get his turn?

Remember that in 2011, Pawan Kalyan had promised to do a film with Singeetam. It was to be an English-language film (besides being in some Indian languages), a film based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The project got shelved a year later. Failed with Pawan, will Singeetam get it done with Balayya? Only time will tell.

However, many factors are stacked against this veteran director. For one, the track record of veteran directors, with the sole exception of K Raghavendra Rao, is not inspiring in the new millennium. After Mumbai Express with Kamal Haasan, Singeetam hasn't handled a big star. On the other hand, the genre of sci-fi is something which has advanced and evolved a lot since the time of Aditya 369. Will an old-timer get it right with this difficult genre? Youngsters are exposed to Hollywood films more than ever before. It's next to impossible to satisfy them with anything less than first-class technical output.