First look motion poster of Abishek Ambareesh's film with Mahesh Kumar on August 27

On May 29 this year, which would have been the late Rebel Star Ambareesh’s 70th birthday, his son and actor Abishek had a few special announcements for upcoming projects. The actor, who made his debut in 2019 with Amar, which didn’t set the box office on fire, has since been looking at reinventing himself for the big screen. His second, which is still in the works, is Bad Manners, with director Duniya Soori, a project that is expected to change Abishek’s fortunes. With Bad Manners nearly done, the actor is gearing up to take on newer projects and announced not one, but two collaborations.

The first was with cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Krishna, which we hear is likely to go on floors in November this year, as it involves the actor getting some physical transformation. The second was a film with Ayogya and Madhagaja maker Mahesh Kumar, the first look motion poster of which will be unveiled on August 27 on the occasion of the actor’s mother, actress-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh’s birthday. To be held at the late Ambareesh’s memorial at Kanteerava Studio in Bengaluru, the event will also include an announcement on the production house that is backing the venture.

When the collaboration with Mahesh was announced, though, fans of the young Rebel Star were far from thrilled, given that the filmmaker had delivered a big dud with Sriimurali, namely Madhagaja. There are conflicting theories about the making of Madhagaja, with some sources claiming that Mahesh’s initial script was a lot different and then went through multiple changes with inputs from KGF maker Prashant Neel. Others say that the filmmaker failed to execute Prashant’s suggestions for the film. Either which way, Madhagaja sank without a trace, which is why Abishek’s fans thought that they should not be collaborating, especially after the disastrous start to his career with Nagashekar’s Amar. This, incidentally, was a film that was meant to launch V Ravichandran’s son Vikram, but then landed with Abishek.