PremiumExclusive! Sandesh Nagaraj on Ghost: Shivanna’s film started modestly and grew beyond our expectations
Ghost is producer Sandesh Nagaraj’s first truly pan-Indian release
Last Updated: 02.27 PM, Oct 11, 2023
When producer Sandesh Nagaraj spoke to Century Star Shivarajkumar and managed to get call sheet, he did not have a script in hand, but knew someone who would, which would, in turn, appeal to the actor. What Sandesh then did was to call MG Srinivas with a question as to whether he had a story that would work for Shivanna. And that, as it turns out, was just the question Srini was waiting for, as he had a script meant for the Hattrick Hero. In the next couple of days, Srini gave Shivanna a narration, he was impressed and wanted to get started as soon as possible.
“Ghost was started as a regular Kannada film, but then things changed around after we revealed the first motion poster. The response was phenomenal and we thought that perhaps we could look at releasing it in Tamil and Telugu also, since Shivanna is known in those circles. But the biggest turning point came after the Big Daddy teaser, which went viral, and got Ghost to grow way beyond our expectations. Honestly, we did not expect such a response to the teaser. Yes, there was a buzz about Shivanna’s cameo in Jailer, but at the time, the film had not released, and audiences had not seen his role as Narasimha,” says Sandesh.
Jailer, of course, was a gamechanger for Ghost. “Our film is now widely anticipated not only by audiences in Karnataka, but in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana/Andhra Pradesh and some parts of north India too. Rajinikanth fans became defacto Shivanna fans too. Jailer gave Shivanna a whole new set of fans in other markets and Ghost will be the first film since then to reap its benefits. This will be followed by Captain Miller, in which he has a pivotal role. As we began making release plans for Ghost, we realized the buzz that the Jailer cameo had created and how helpful that became for us to make business deals,” adds the producer.
Ghost will release on October 19 in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and north India, as well as in all major overseas centres, excluding the Gulf countries, where Urdu subtitles are a must, the process of which is still ongoing. Andhra/Telangana will be a week later on October 27.