Dhananjaya: Anna From Mexico will be my next release; Jingo in pre-production

Daali Dhananjaya has not had a Kannada film in theatres in which he was the hero in over a year; his last being Kotee. He had roles in films like Pushpa 2: The Rule, Zebra and Vidyapati, and it will be a while before Kannada audiences see him onscreen again. The actor was shooting for Uttarakaanda with his Rathnan Prapancha director Rohit Padaki, when co-star Shivarajkumar’s ill health forced them to put the brakes on the project.

Dhananjaya: Anna From Mexico is about 70% done

He took another break for his wedding and has resumed work, beginning with Anna From Mexico, the film he’s doing with his Badava Rascal director Shankar Guru. Dhananjaya is paired with Reeshma Nanaiah in the film. But will it be his release for 2025? “We are targeting a 2025 release for Anna From Mexico, although we are a tad behind schedule owing to the rains in Karnataka. We couldn’t shoot for almost a month. We have resumed now in Bengaluru and Mysuru, after which we have a foreign schedule. About 60-70% of the film is done and we should be able to wrap it up soon,” says the actor.

Up next, Dhananjaya will take up 666 Operation Dream Theatre with Hemanth M Rao. What happened to Daredevil Mustafa director Shashank Soghal’s Jingo, which was announced long ago? “That is still in scripting phase. We are hopeful of freezing on the final draft shortly. In the meantime, I will finish off Hemanth’s film and then start Jingo,” he says, adding, “I don’t like schedule breaks. Once we start a project, I want to wrap it up quickly. So, we’ve decided to do all the pre-production and be absolutely sure that everything in place before going on floors.”

Also read: Dhananjaya: Going forward I will only do massy action entertainers for family audiences 

It's the same strategy that he followed with his home productions Badava Rascal and Head Bush. “Finish them off in start-to-finish schedules and move on to the next. There’s a certain energy in working in this style. Once there are a lot of gaps, it becomes difficult to manage. As of now, Uttrakaanda is the only one that has been put on hold, but that too should be back on track shortly. Rohit is all set to release Ekka next month, so we will have clarity on that thereafter,” says Dhananjaya.