Avatara Purusha is my first release in two years; it almost feels like a debut: Sharan

Sharan will be back in theaters this December, when the first part of Avatara Purusha releases. Scheduled for a December 10 release, the film reunites him with his Raambo 2 co-star Ashika Ranganath, in what is his first collaboration with director Suni. At a recent press briefing, ahead of the release, Sharan said, “This is my first press meet and film release in two years, so, it almost feels like a debut again. In fact, I had asked my co-star Ashika (Ranganath) to take charge and speak first, because she has been having press meets for her other projects and is a seasoned player. But then, in the last minute, producer Pushkara (Mallikarjunaiah) was like, ‘Sir, you have to speak’. I wasn’t prepared, but thankfully, I don’t need to be for Avatara Purusha. This is a film that is close to my heart, because the excitement that I had when I got the narration, not only stayed on at every stage of its making, but only grew by the day. The credit for that goes to the team of Avatara Purusha. This film is very different from my earlier movies and has fresh content that will appeal to audiences. I last had a release in 2019 and had mentally prepared myself that I won’t have one this year either. But then, Pushkara was able to swing things around and figure out a December 10 date to release the first part of the film.”

Watch the teaser here:  

The film, which sees the actor as a junior cine artiste, who is brought in to pretend to be the long-lost heir of a family, has a lot of comedy at its core, but also dabbles with the concept of black magic – a combination that the actor says will be interesting for audiences. But if the film is creating a buzz among audiences now, it is because of the efforts of Pushkara and Suni, says Sharan. “As a producer myself, when I get a script narration, I have an estimate of the budget in my mind. When I heard this story, it felt like a big-budget project, which got me thinking about its business prospects and I wondered if Pushkar was making films for money or out of passion. Having worked with him on this film, I must say that here is a filmmaker who puts business interests on the backseat and gives creativity a free-hand in his pursuit of making good movies.”

As for Suni, Sharan says that although he’d known of the filmmaker and his earlier body of work, this marks their first professional collaboration. “Today, if any of us on the cast have done a good job, it is because of the creatively exciting environment that Suni created on the set. He is the man who has put together a good film. You will see his effort and vision reflect in every frame of the film, and we, as actors, were only tools in bringing this vision to the screen,” he says.

Avatara Purusha stars Sharan, Ashika Ranganath, Ashutosh Rana, Srinagara Kitty, Sai Kumar, Sudha Rani, Bhavya, Balaji Manohar, B Suresha and Sadhu Kokila, among others. Part 1 of the film, which runs with the tagline, Ashta Digbandana Mandalaka, hits theatres on December 10, while the second installment will likely release in February or March of 2022.