Vijay Deverakonda plays a medical surgeon in his next

Actor Vijay Deverakonda, known for his work in films like "Life is Beautiful" and "Yevade Subramanyam", plays a medical surgeon in his upcoming Telugu romantic drama "Arjun Reddy".

"It's an emotional love story set against the backdrop of a medical college. Vijay plays a surgeon and he's paired with newbie Shalini, a theatre artist from Jabalpur. The regular shooting starts from June 20 in Hyderabad," film's director Sandeep Vanga told.

Calling it a contemporary and urban love story, Sandeep says the film will stand out for its very realistic treatment.

The film is titled after the lead character's name.

"This is a character-driven story and what more could be a convincing title than my hero's name itself. Titles are very important to create pre-release buzz and such a powerful title will get easily registered in audiences' minds," he said.

Also starring Jia Sharma, Sanjay Swaroop and Gopinath Bhat, the film will be shot in Hyderabad, Mangalore, Delhi, Dehradun and Italy.

"Mahesh Babu's brother-in-law Sanjay plays an important role. We also have roped in very popular Tulu actor Gopinath Bhat to play the heroine's father. We're in talks with a veteran Telugu actress to play a pivotal role," he added.

Portions of the film, which will be set in Mangalore, will feature dialogues in Tulu.

Sandeep's brother is producing the film.