Has Kiccha Sudeep walked out of Kabzaa? No, says director R Chandru

In the last few days, the buzz in Kannada film circles has been that Kiccha Sudeep, who plays a character called Bhargav Bakshi in Kabzaa, is no longer part of the film. The rumour comes at a time when the film is nearly 80% done, with only two schedules pending – one in Hyderabad and another in Mangaluru – to complete it. Lead actor Upendra had earlier told us that he was looking at completing Kabzaa by the end of April and then focusing on his own directorial. But if there is any truth to the rumours doing the rounds, Kabzaa could be in trouble.

According to a few reports, Sudeep has walked out of the project without completing his commitment to the role. Director R Chandru, who is also producing the film, though, says that it couldn’t be further from the truth. Taking to social media to address the rumours, the filmmaker wrote, “Since yesterday, there have been news reports that Sudeep sir has walked out of Kabzaa, which is not true. In fact, Sudeep has been a part of our ongoing schedule and participated in the shoot of Kabzaa. I request everyone not to pay heed to the false news.”

Kabzaa is an underworld story about a don who reigned over south India in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The film, though, explores his life from the 40s to the 80s and has, therefore, extensively been shot at specially erected sets in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mangaluru. The film boasts a massive ensemble cast including Shriya Saran, Nawab Shah, Kabir Duhan Singh, Jagapati Babu, Danish Akhtar Saifi, Rahul Dev, Anup Revanna, Pradeep Rawat, Posani Murali Krishna and Murali Sharma, among others.

Given the scale of the project, R Chandru is looking at presenting the film as a two-part project, with one set to release in 2022.