Baba Sathya Sai, the upcoming biopic on the late Sathya Sai Baba by Telugu filmmaker Kodi Ramakrishna, had raised a lot of curiosity when it was learnt that Malayalam actor Dileep would be playing the lead in it.

It has now been confirmed that Telugu/Tamil actress Anushka Shetty will be part of the film, though it is not yet known what exactly is her character. “More details can be revealed only when the shoot starts in Hyderabad in June. She might be playing a devotee; we are not sure,” said Riyaz, the production controller of the film.

Anushka, who was last seen in Rajinikanth-starrer Lingaa, has several Telugu and Tamil projects coming up. Jayaprada will be playing Sai Baba’s mother in the film, which spans the life of the spiritual leader from the age of 22 till his ‘Samadhi’ at 84. Actor Sreejith Vijay will also be part of the film, which will be dubbed in English, Hindi and other Indian languages. Dileep was apparently chosen to play the lead character based on the similarity in appearance and will be dubbing for himself in Telugu and a few other languages as well.

The actor has reportedly started reading books on Sai Baba and even stayed at Puttaparthi, his birthplace, for a while to get into the skin of the character.