It'a case of Tollywood's one biggest superstar doing what another biggest superstar would have been expected to do. When everybody expected Pawan Kalyan to play a politician on screen, it's Mahesh Babu who is doing it. As has been widely speculated, Mahesh will be seen in the role of Chief Minister in his next, a Koratala Shiva directorial. (For those of you looking for romance, worry not. He will be doing it, among other things).

But isn't it Pawan who is in the 2019 poll fray? Then, when is he playing a politico?

While Mahesh has no mindset problems with respect to playing a CM on screen, Pawan has his set of convictions, which will disallow him from playing a powerful person in a film. Psychologically, the Jana Sena chief is attuned to questioning, not taking up a role. Notice that, whenever he delivers a political speech, he says he is there to put questions to the powers-that-be. Expect Pawan to play an activist, not a CM.