Anup Bhandari finally admits that Vikrant Rona was meant to be Rangitaranga 2

Kannada filmmaker Anup Bhandari’s debut film Rangitaranga is celebrating its 10th year anniversary this July, on the occasion of which, the team is bringing the hit movie back to theatres. Talking to the media about the re-release, Anup reminisced about the decision to keep Saikumar out of most of the promotions, even though he was the most saleable name on the team at that point, as he feared that the twist in the story his character brings in would be revealed. He also said that following the success of Rangitaranga, he meant to collaborate with Saikumar yet again, but that didn’t pan out when the star cast changed.

“In the initial draft that I narrated to Saikumar sir, he was meant to play a pivotal role and the film would be Rangitaranga 2. It was not written for Sudeep sir. In fact, another hero was to join Saikumar sir, but eventually, when it came to Sudeep sir, changes had to be made to the script. After these changes, the role meant for Saikumar sir didn’t sit well in the narrative, so we decided to part ways and collaborate again at a later stage,” said Anup.

Also read: Is there a connect between Anup Bhandari's Rangitaranga and Vikrant Rona? 

Anup Bhandari was told that Rangitaranga would not work commercially

The film, meanwhile, will be back in theatres on July 4, 2025, and Anup says that when it released on July 3, 2015, the overall feedback he got from the premiere show from pretty much everyone at the main theatre, all of who were from the Kannada film industry, was that Rangitaranga would likely win a lot of awards, and get great reviews too, but would not work out commercially. The filmmaker was preparing for it to be a colossal failure, but then, his luck turned by day 3, when word of mouth started spreading and the footfalls picked up in theatres.

Also read: Vikrant Rona review: Kiccha Sudeep holds together predictable Rangitaranga-style revenge saga 

Rangitaranga eventually became one of the highest grossing films of 2015, which Anup then followed up with Rajaratha, Vikrant Rona and now, Billa Ranga Baashaa. During the Vikrant Rona promotions, though, Anup and his team had not spoken about a Rangitaranga connection, which became apparent after its release and the biggest complaint against him and the film.