Touted by trade circles as one of the more interesting Telugu film projects of 2003, Nijjam has evoked a lot of hype.

High on the success of his Rs 30 crore (approximately US $6.4 million) hit Okadu (opposite Bhumika Chawla), Mahesh plays a brooding, angry, bespectacled Hindu boy in Nijjam.

Initially, for the author-backed role of Mahesh's mother, Teja reportedly approached Rekha, then Vijayashanti. But when both declined, he roped in veteran Taluri Rameshwari. Rakshita and Raasi play the female leads in this mother-son saga.

For the film's soundtrack, Teja has opted for his regular team of music director Patnaik and lyricist Kulasekhar. The audio release of Nijjam took place in Dubai at the jubilee celebration of his last hit Jayam. Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi was the chief guest.

The Teja-Patnaik-Kulasekhar combination has produced musical hits like Chitram (Uday Kiran, Reema Sen), Nuvvu Nenu and Jayam. The music album of Nijjam includes 16 numbers, with additional songs from earlier Teja hits. According to Teja, the script demands that many numbers. The audio is reportedly selling like hot cakes.

After posters of Mahesh holding a gun with the contradictory tagline, 'Nijjam (Truth) -- It is a lie', attracted a lot of attention, the publicity was handled in a low-profile manner by releasing still photographs to selected sections of the press.

Mahesh fans are excited about Nijjam after their favourite actor ended his lean patch with Okadu. 

Director Teja is full of praise for his hero. "He slipped into the character unmindful of his star image," he says. With Nijjam, Teja hopes to prove that he can also make an 'anger-driven' film after weaving peppy love stories with debutants.

Chitram Movies is believed to have sold Nijjam for a big price. Now it remains to be seen whether it will sink like Johnny (Pawan Kalyan, Renu Desai) or live up to its expectations.