Ghost: Shivarajkumar’s heist movie to have two parts; release date along with Big Daddy

Ghost, directed by actor-filmmaker MG Srinivas, is one of the most anticipated films of 2023. Led by Shivarajkumar, the film also stars Malayalam actor Jayaram as well as Bollywood actor Anupam Kher in pivotal roles. The film, according to the director, is currently in post-production, which includes as many as 1,800 VFX shots, a majority of which is being done in studios abroad. The team, he’d told us, would determine the release date once most of the CGI work is done.

In the meantime, though, Srini is looking forward to releasing a major publicity element from the film. On July 12, which is Shivarajkumar’s birthday, team Ghost is releasing a special video called Big Daddy that will give audiences a glimpse of one of the three shades that the actor’s character has in Ghost. Big Daddy, Srini had told us, is not the official teaser of the film, but will be as good as one, and will give audiences an idea as to what to expect in Ghost. This video will be launched by Shivarajkumar in the presence of fans at the Santhosh theatre in Bengaluru.

During a Twitter space conversation over the weekend, Srini said that the film is being made in two-parts with the first coming out this year. Ghost, he added will be released in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. “Ghost will end with a lead-in to a second part. The business aspects of doing a sequel have already been worked out, so Ghost 2 will, most definitely, be made. As for the release plans of Ghost 1, apart from the character glimpse, Big Daddy will reveal the film’s release date. Currently we are focusing on releasing it in Kanada, Tamil and Telugu. Depending on the response and the business opportunities, we will plan other language releases. See, if we are to release the film in Hindi, the publicity budget alone will be Rs 5-10 crore. So, planning a Hindi version will depend on the projected returns on investment (ROI),” said Srini.

Addressing the rumour about Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi being a part of Ghost, Srini admits that the team had approached the actor, but that there were scheduling conflicts, owing to which he is not a part of Ghost part 1. However, he does not rule out the possibility of having Vijay on board for the next part and is hopeful that everything falls in place for that.