Tovino Thomas said no to Jr NTR and Prashanth Neel's Dragon. He explains why
Tovino Thomas stepped away from Jr NTR and Prashanth Neel's Dragon recently. At a recent event in Hyderabad, the actor explained the reasons behind his decision to let go of the project.
Actor Tovino Thomas confirmed that he will not be part of Jr NTR's upcoming Telugu film directed by Prashanth Neel of KGF fame. The project, tentatively titled Dragon, was announced in 2022 and began filming with a puja ceremony in Hyderabad on August 9, 2025. The makers had planned for a June 2026 release, but updates on the film have been scarce since then.
While promoting his Malayalam film Pallichattambi in Hyderabad on Tuesday, Tovino explained that scheduling conflicts led to his exit from Dragon. He said, “It is really hard to allocate dates, so I am not doing it.”
He elaborated on the differences between working in Malayalam and Telugu cinema, saying, “I don’t do multiple films at once. In Malayalam, we finish a film in one schedule. But in Telugu, a single project takes almost a year. I can give 3 months, not an entire year.”
The film, also known as NTR-Neel, is one of the most anticipated projects in Telugu cinema. It was officially announced on Jr NTR’s birthday in 2022 and commenced shooting earlier last year. Jr NTR joined the sets after completing his Bollywood debut, War 2, with director Ayan Mukerji and actor Hrithik Roshan.
Although the film has been widely rumoured to be titled Dragon, the production team has not confirmed or denied this. The official social media accounts for NTR-Neel announced that the film is scheduled for theatrical release on June 25, 2026.
As of now, there have been no further updates regarding the casting changes or production progress of the film. The team appears focused on adhering to the planned release timeline despite these developments.
Apart from Jr NTR, Rukmini Vasanth and Anil Kapoor are a part of the ensemble cast. The rest of the details about the films have been kept under wraps.