In a recent interview with the media, producer A.M. Ratnam revealed that Pawan Kalyan's 'Sathyagrahi' was shelved by Pawan Kalyan himself. "Being a political film, many have expressed second thoughts after listening to the narration, which pushed Kalyan into contemplation, added to the result of 'Johnny' which has been a disappointment, made him shelve" said Ratnam.

Post 'Kushi', Pawan Kalyan was supposed to another film with A.M. Ratnam, but unfortunately 'Johnny' didn't work as expected. Although Pawan Kalyan was busy with his 'Sathyagrahi' work, he was quite confident at the beginning and announced the project. As he narrated it to others, the feedback wasn't up to his expectation and Kalyan, who felt that he failed as a director with Johnny, decided not to put the producer at risk and called to shelve the project.

Speaking about this Ratnam said "I was sad that day, but today I'm happy that I'm making 'Hari Hara Veera Mallu' with him"