Vikramarkudu, the Telugu original of Rowdy Rathore, is set for a sequel, as is the Hindi remake

Six years after Telugu superstar Ravi Teja's Vikramarkudu, a movie which was much appreciated up North, stormed the box office, news comes from Hyderabad that the makers are all set to film a sequel to the blockbuster. Interestingly, a sequel is also being planned to Rowdy Rathore, the Hindi remake of Vikramarkudu.

But Ravi is a step ahead. His director already has an idea for the sequel. The Rowdy Rathore team is still to come up with a firm idea. Teja says he isn't aware of a sequel to Rowdy Rathore. "They're planning a sequel? My director Rajamouli and I are also planning a sequel and have already begun work on the story."

Ravi has wonderful things to say about Akshay Kumar. "Some of the scenes were done in Prabhu Deva's style. Akshay has done a fabulous job with the comedy. When he says I've done a better job in the original he's just being humble. He has caught on to the mood of the original and given it his own twist."

Ravi does, however, find some elements from the original missing in the remake.

"There was this big scene where I fight with the women-folk. I asked Prabhu Deva about that scene and he said, ‘Akshay fighting with women would have looked politically incorrect.' But in the original, women loved that scene. But the remake is a blockbuster."

Ravi, also known as Mass Maharaja, is from Andhra Pradesh and has spent a lot of his formative years in Mumbai and Jaipur. "I enjoyed the struggle. My first break came in 1997 with Krishna Vamsi and then Puri Jagannadh, my closest friend."

Ask him how he feels about being known as Mass Maharaja and Ravi bursts out laughing. "One of my directors named me that. It has stuck. It feels good when fans shout that out."