HYDERABAD: In a clash between summer demand and cinema, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has declined a request from filmmaker SS Rajamouli’s team for 150 water tankers, each with a capacity of 10,000 litres, for the shooting of his upcoming project ‘Varanasi’.
The film, starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra, is being shot on a specially constructed set on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The production house, Sri Durga Arts, had approached the Water Board seeking supply of tankers for underwater sequences.
According to sources, the water was to be used at a film studio in Gaganpahad, Rajendranagar, where a water pond has been created for filming. In a letter to HMWSSB Managing Director K Ashok Reddy, the production house said it would bear the transportation cost and requested that the water be purified to meet filming requirements. The shoot for these sequences is scheduled for May 18.
However, the Board declined the request citing increased demand for water across the city due to summer conditions. Officials said the department is already facing pressure in meeting public demand and a surge in tanker requirements from various parts of the city, and therefore could not assure supply for the film project.