Dil Raju’s attempts to bring in a noted star for the protagonist’s role in the remake of Tamil nostalgia drama ‘96’ are not turning fruitful. Both Allu Arjun and Nani at one time evinced interest but they later backed off for various reasons. Recently, action star Gopichand has almost signed the film. However, latest reports say Gopichand is now signing other films, one with a new director and the other with a Malayalam maker.

Though Gopichand has not turned down this film yet, he taking up other movies suddenly raising doubts.

‘96’ in Tamil starred Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha in the lead roles. The film won rave reviews and it was also a decent hit at ticket window. Roping in a star for male lead has become very tough for Dil Raju.

The movie’s original director Prem Kumar has already prepared script in Telugu and is awaiting the confirmation for the lead cast.