Five top directors in the Kannada film industry – Yogaraj Bhat, KM Chaitanya, Shashank, Jayatheertha and Pawan Kumar – will work together for a new film. What makes this project even more interesting is that it is not an anthology but a complete commercial feature film. Reports say that the idea to collaborate was mooted during the lockdown and gradually took shape to bring the five directors together. The groundwork has begun already and reports suggest that the shooting will be completed by this year end. Details about the cast and crew will be revealed by the production house officially in a few days, we hear.
Currently, Yogaraj Bhat has Gaalipata 2 in the making. Starring Ganesh in the lead, Ramesh Reddy is bankrolling this sequel to Gaalipata under his banner Suraj Production. Vaibhavi Shandilya, Samyuktha Menon and Sharmiela Mandre have been roped in to play the female leads in this entertainer, along with Nishvika Naidu and Anant Nag in crucial roles. The technical crew of this film includes Arjun Janya for music with Santhosh Rai Pathaje cranking the camera. The film’s shooting was progressing well until the coronavirus outbreak and the ensuing lockdown. Expectations are high on this project as Ganesh and Yograj Bhat are teaming up for the fourth time.
KM Chaitanya’s Aadya hit the marquee earlier this year to good response. A mystery thriller, it starred the late Chiranjeevi Sarja in the lead along with Sruthi Hariharan. Sridhar V Sambhram had composed music for this venture with V Malhar Bhat Joshi handling the cinematography and Akshay P Rao doing the edits. Aadya was the remake of the hit Telugu film Kshanam, which was directed by Ravikanth Perepu.
Shashank’s last directorial was Thayige Thakka Maga which released a couple of years ago. Last year, there were reports that he is in talks with Upendra for a new project; the details are awaited.
Jayatheertha’s Bell Bottom was his last movie, which hit the marquee in February last year. Based on a short story penned by Dayanand TK, the film turned out to be a big hit. It starred Rishab Shetty and Hariprriya in the lead. The technical crew of Bell Bottom comprised B Ajaneesh Loknath as the music composer, Aravind Kashyap as the cinematographer, KM Prakash as the editor and Raghu Niduvalli as the dialogue writer.
Pawan Kumar’s last film, U Turn, hit the marquee in 2016 and turned out to be a blockbuster. A mystery thriller, the film starred Shraddha Srinath, Radhika Chetan, Dileep Raj and Roger Narayan. U Turn was bankrolled by the director himself under his banner Pawan Kumar Studios on a budget of Rs 2.5 crore. He then went on to remake the film in Tamil and Telugu.
(Content provided by Digital Native)