The Dhruva Sarja starrer Pogaru will most likely be an Independence Day release this year. The team is targeting this date and is working towards the deadline, say sources. Recently, the Pogaru team had wrapped up the 35-day second schedule, which had begun on February 4, at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad and are planning to begin the next schedule by this month end.
Directed by Nanda Kishore, the film features Shanvi Srivastava and Rashmika Mandanna as the female leads. Dhananjay and veteran Telugu actor Jagapathy Babu have been roped in to play the baddies in this flick. Raghavendra Rajkumar and Mayuri are playing pivotal roles as well.
It was earlier reported that Arjun Sarja, Dhurva’s uncle, had hopped onboard to finetune the screenplay. Apparently, Dhruva was not happy with the scripting of Pogaru, so he sought his maternal uncle Arjun’s help. Reports say that Arjun worked on the script and made some major changes which the team accepted without any hesitation.
The technical crew of this film includes Arjun Janya for music and Vijay Milton for cinematography. Pogaru is bankrolled by BK Gangadhar under his banner.
It may be noted here that the first schedule was completed successfully last year and the team went on a long break. While rumours said that the producers were not happy with the script and it needed some finetuning, it was clarified later that the delay in the second schedule was due to the fact that Dhruva had to gain weight. He had shed close to 30 kg to play a school boy, for scenes shot in the first schedule, and took time to regain the lost weight.
There are reports that Rashmika Mandanna has been paid a huge amount to star in Pogaru. Reportedly, the filmmakers shelled out about Rs 64 lakh to cast her in the role. In the past, Nayanthara and Amy Jackson have been paid huge amounts to star in Kannada films but for the first time a Kannada actor was paid a big amount, say sources in the know.
(Content provided by Digital Native)