Shiva Rajkumar’s ‘Bhajarangi 2’ to hit the screens in 2021?

Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar’s upcoming film Bhajarangi 2 was scheduled to hit the marquee in April, with the filmmakers hoping to cash in on the summer holiday season. But the release got pushed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The film marks the reunion of Shiva Rajkumar and choreographer-director A Harsha after their superhit box-office outings – Bhajarangi and Vajrakaya.

The film’s shooting resumed recently in Bengaluru where the remaining patchwork is being shot. There was a lot of visual effects work pending and the makers used the lockdown period to complete it. Now, according to sources from the film’s camp, there is about a month-long schedule pending and looking at the current situation the team is mostly eyeing an early 2021 release, maybe coinciding with a festival.

On choosing the title, the director reportedly said that the film would have no connection with Bhajarangi but that he chose the title because his team liked it. So, from what we gather, Bhajarangi 2 will be a completely different story. The film will have Bhavana sharing screen space with Shiva Rajkumar. The technical crew of Bhajarangi 2 comprise Arjun Janya for music composition, J Swamy to handle the camera and Deepu S Kumar for editing.

Shiva Rajkumar’s next will be helmed by debutant Ram Dhulipudi, which will feature the star in the role of an army officer. The film is an out-and-out entertainer, a blend of action, romance and emotion. The star enjoys a good fan base in the neighbouring states of Andhra and Telangana. To capitalise on this, this project will be a bilingual made in Kannada and Telugu. Entrepreneur turned producer Srikanth Dhulipudi will be bankrolling the film under his banner.

The first look poster of the film was launched on the occasion of the star’s birthday on July 12 and received a good response. Confident that this will be landmark film in Shiva Rajkumar’s career, the producer said that the star’s fans will go crazy seeing him don the army uniform. The shooting of this film is expected to begin in November if all goes well.

Shiva Rajkumar’s last film to release was Drona, directed by Pramod Chakravarthy. The film was an official remake of the 2012 Tamil movie Saattai, and was produced by Mahadevappa B Halagatthi. It starred the star in the role of a government school teacher who fights for the survival of the school. The film starred Iniya as the female lead, with Ravi Kishan and Rangayana Raghu in significant roles.

(Content provided by Digital Native)