Rajini's film backs out, Sai Dharam Tej's film goes ahead

Mega hero Sai Dharam Tej’s upcoming film Winner is the first Indian film to be in Ukraine. Even the makers of South Superstar Rajinikanth’s film Robo2 had been there but they did not shoot any scenes there.

Director Gopichand Malineni, who has returned after successfully wrapping up the European schedule of his upcoming Telugu actioner “Winner”, says they shot a breathtaking horse racing climax sequence in Istanbul.

“We shot the climax in Istanbul race course. It’s a nail-biting horse racing sequence, featuring Sai Dharam Tej and the film’s antagonist Thakur Anoop Singh. The whole action episode was shot under the supervision of Bulgarian stunt director Kaloian Vodenicharov, who had worked in films such as ‘Baahubali’ and ‘World War Z’,” Malineni said, adding he is thrilled with the output.

Before heading to Istanbul, the team shot three songs in Ukraine.

“Although the makers of ‘2.o’ had come before us, they didn’t shoot there. We were told that they had taken pictures of some locations in order to recreate the same in India,” he added.

Out of three songs, one was shot against some scenic backdrop of Ukraine.