Exclusive! Upendra and Sudeep to join Kabzaa’s 40-day schedule that starts on September 20

It’s been a long and arduous journey for filmmaker R Chandru; his next, Kabzaa, is, after all, one of his most ambitious projects to date. And it’s far from complete yet. The film, which has Real Star Upendra in the lead, is an underworld subject that Chandru is making for a pan-Indian audience.

The team, which has already shot for 110 days, will get together for a 40-day schedule in Bengaluru, starting September 20. “During this schedule, we are looking at finishing most of the principal photography, leaving only a few songs and sequences for a last, 30-day schedule in Hyderabad. Since Kabzaa is a period film spanning the 1940s to early 80s, it could only be shot in sets where the era was recreated. Right now, multiple sets are being erected in Bengaluru, which is a time-consuming process, as we cannot afford to get any element of that era wrong and need to maintain utmost quality in the production, given the film’s pan-Indian status. Art director Shivakumar is, no doubt, one of the heroes of Kabzaa, as he has meticulously produced my vision for the film,” says director Chandru. Such is the scale of the film that leading man Upendra has been quoted as saying that it is one of the most challenging subjects of his career, in which he plays an underworld don, who reigned over south India.

During this schedule, Upendra will be joined by Kichcha Sudeep, Kabir Duhan Singh, Kamraj, Danish Akhtar Saifi, Sunil Puranik and many others. “We are hopeful of also finalizing a leading lady to be a part of this schedule. Discussions are still on and an official announcement should happen soon,” adds the filmmaker. Kabzaa’s ensemble cast also includes Anup Revanna, Pramod Shetty, Jagapathi Babu, Ravi Kishan, and Kota Srinivas.