15 years after Edelu Manjunatha, Guruprasad and Jaggesh are back with Ranganayaka

A few years ago, filmmaker and actor Guruprasad had announced a new directorial featuring Navarasa Nayaka Jaggesh in the lead. A political satire set a few centuries ago, the film had piqued the interest of Kannada film audiences, who are expecting a repeat of sorts of the duo’s success with films like Mata and Edelu Manjunatha. Guruprasad has been tight-lipped about the subject of the film, called Ranganayaka, but he won’t have to much longer. Earlier today, the team revealed that 15 years after their last collaboration, Edelu Manjunatha, Guruprasad and Jaggesh will return with Ranganayaka on March 8.

Ranganayaka is Jaggesh’s first historical film ever. The film is set during the times of the Vijayanagara empire and has been shot at specially-erected sets. But would a subject like this work in modern times? Jaggesh firmly believes it will, as Guruprasad has chosen to tell his story steeped in humour. The filmmaker has been quoted as saying that there is a side to Jaggesh that audiences have not seen yet, despite his career spanning more than 3 decades and that is what he is looking at presenting through Ranganayaka.

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“Engaging and entertaining audiences is a tough job and humour is an element that is most effective in achieving this. And Rangayanaka does just that,” Jaggesh had said during a shooting visit some time ago. The actor added that he was sure that just as scenes from Mata and Edelu Manjunatha have gone viral and provided matter for memes, Ranganayaka will also become popular. “There will be at least 100-150 comedy clips in this film that people will share,” said Jaggesh.

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Ranganayaka will be Jaggesh’s first release since the two-part Thotapuri, which had sunk without a trace at the box office. The film has music by Anoop Seelin and cinematography by Samrat Ashok Gautam. It will introduce Rachita Mahalakshmi, known for playing Meenatchi in the Tamil television serial, Saravanan Meenatchi as the leading lady.