A few days ago, the director of Upendra-starrer Kabzaa told fans that he would make a special announcement regarding the film on January 14. On the occasion of Sankranti, R Chandru revealed that Sandalwood star Sudeep has been roped in for an important role in the film. The director revealed that Sudeep’s role is that of a man named Bhargav Bakshi, who is a key character.

R Chandru welcomed Sudeep on board via social media. He wrote: "Having a great time working with Real star @nimmaupendra, now I am super excited to have Baadshah @KicchaSudeep on board for KABZA. Can’t wait to see the Baadshah on the set, it’s will be a moment of great pride for me. Welcome aboard @KicchaSudeep Sir #Kabzaa."

Having a great time working with Realstar @nimmaupendra,now I am super excited to have Baadshah @KicchaSudeep on board for KABZA. Can’t wait to see the Baadshah on the set, it’s will be a moment of great pride for me. Welcome aboard @KicchaSudeep Sir#Kabzaa pic.twitter.com/2jU2370oac

— R.Chandru (@rchandru_movies) January 14, 2021

According to reports, Kabzaa is set in the 1980s and will revolve around the life of a powerful underworld don played by Upendra. Reports are that director Chandru had earlier put forth the idea of making Kabzaa into a two-part project. However, the team will be completing the first instalment before moving onto the second.

The film will feature a bevy of stars from various industries including Jagapathi Babu, Prakash Raj, Jayaprakash Reddy, Pradeep Rawat, Manoj Bajpai, Samuthirakani and Nana Patekar. The film is bankrolled by MTB Nagaraju under the banner Sri Siddeshwara Entertainments. The music is composed by Ravi Basrur, with Arjun Shetty handling the cinematography. Plans are on to release Kabzaa in seven Indian languages including Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi and Bengali, with plans to also dub it in Chinese.

The first schedule of Kabzaa was successfully wrapped up some months ago, after a hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. During the first schedule, an important action sequence was filmed at the Minerva Mills in Bengaluru. Reports are that several gunmen, sharpshooters and stuntmen were roped in for this sequence, with the weapons alone costing producers Rs 20 lakh a day. This fight sequence will be the highlight of the film, report sources close to the film unit.

Sudeep’s current project in the making is Phantom, which is directed by Anup Bhandari. Manjunath Gowda, a close associate of Sudeep, is producing the film under his banner. While the shooting of Phantom is on, Sudeep’s fans are eagerly waiting for the release of his upcoming Kotigobba 3. Further, reports have emerged that Sudeep had been working on his directorial during the lockdown and is keen on taking it further as soon as possible.

Upendra’s last outing was I Love You (2019), which was also directed by R Chandru. The film, which was bankrolled by R Chandru under his banner Sri Siddeshwara Enterprises, starred Upendra and Rachita Ram as the lead pair. I Love You hit the marquee last year and had a good run at the box office, completing 50 days. The film was made on a budget of Rs 30 million and reportedly went on to collect Rs 95 million at the box office.

(Content provided by Digital Native)