Director R Chandru brings Shriya Saran back to Kannada cinema with Kabzaa

When director R Chandru had launched his most ambitious project to date, Kabzaa, way back in November 2019, the question on everyone’s mind was, who would he pair Real Star Upendra with in this period film about an underworld don. In the time since, the film was delayed for multiple reasons, including set work, the pandemic, among others, and the question remained, although there was a strong buzz that there would be two lead heroines in the film.

Chandru, of course, was very clear that he wanted heroines with a pan-India appeal for his film, given that he is looking at releasing the film in multiple languages. Several names have been doing the rounds, but there was no confirmation from the filmmaker, until today. A little while ago, Chandru revealed one of the two ‘queens’ of Kabzaa. And, as it turns out, he’s got Shriya Saran to return to Kannada cinema with the film.

The filmmaker revealed a poster featuring the actress, dressed like a royal atop a throne, to welcome her to the team of Kabzaa. Fans, though, wondered why she was introduced like a royal, given that the film is set between 1940 and 1980 and is about the underworld, one man in particular who ruled south India.

For Shriya, who has been active predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Kabzaa will be her return to Sandalwood after the 2013 film Chandra, and only her third overall in the industry. There are no details about her character yet, but she has joined the team of the film to wind up the film, which is about 80% done.

Kabzaa, directed and produced by Chandru, stars Upendra in the lead, with Kiccha Sudeep on board in a pivotal role. The film also stars Prakash Raj, Kabir Duhan Singh, Pradeep Rawat, Nawab Shah, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Danish Akhtar Saifi and Samuthirakani, among others.