Exclusive! Pawan Kumar and Puneeth Rajkumar kicked-off Dvitva exactly a year before Gandhada Gudi releases

October 28 is a rather momentous day for all Puneeth Rajkumar fans and perhaps for the most obvious reasons. As Gandhada Gudi, makes its way onto the big screen, fans look forward ardently to experiencing the one-of-a-kind film and bidding adieu to a superstar who has endeared them for decades together. In the same vein, albeit in a completely different context, the 28th of October carries a lot of essence for actor-filmmaker Pawan Kumar who kicked off Dvitva on that exact day. Dvitva was a passion project for Pawan as it marked his first collaboration with Puneeth Rajkumar and the duo, ably supported by the rest of the cast, had made the first proper stride towards realising the dream before tragedy struck the very next day.

“Interestingly, we decided to dub the entire film beforehand so that we get a deeper understanding of the script and also help the actors get under the skin of their characters. So, on October 28 of 2021, the entire cast of Dvitva got together to start the film and carried out the dubbing process with great gusto. In fact, although he wasn't part of the dubbing process, I remember having a chat with Appu sir later that day about the process and him being quite enthused by the idea, and we were quite excited about taking things forward. Of course, it all took a rather drastic turn the very next day and I got the news of his passing on the afternoon of October 29. It was a super tricky period, I won’t lie, and I wasn’t sure how to react at that moment because the memory of seeing and interacting with him was so fresh that I couldn’t fathom what had just transpired. And yet, the same evening I decided on getting the rest of the cast together and continuing the dubbing work because that’s exactly what Appu sir would have wanted us to do. We dubbed the film for the next seven days and ensured that the entire script is covered, and it was at that point that I felt that I was kinda done with the film. I had to get it out of my system by being true to the vision that Puneeth sir and I shared,” says Pawan Kumar about his cathartic experience.

Following the news of Puneeth Rajkumar’s passing, many enquired about the fate of the project and whether, or not, Pawan considered the idea of making it with a different actor. The filmmaker, however, chose to keep the speculations away from him and instead chose to focus on other activities to clear his mind. “Once I was through with the dubbing process of Dvitva, I decided to move on to other things and even tried my hand at farming. I had other work commitments like Gaalipata 2 during this time and luckily I was able to keep myself busy throughout,” he adds.

On October 10, Pawan Kumar and Hombale Films launched their maiden collaboration which comes in the form of a thriller titled Dhoomam. The film stars Fahadh Faasil and Aparna Balamurali and Pawan will venture into Malayalam cinema for the very first time in his career. Dhoomam will also be released in Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil and the makers are taking the film on floors in the first week of November.