I may get trolled for this, but I’ve seen Kabzaa and think it is better than KGF, says Alankar Pandian

Kannada filmmaker R Chandru has just about a month’s time to travel across the country with the promotions of his next, the multi-lingual Kabzaa, which will be in theatres on March 17. He began with the title track launch in Hyderabad, which was attended by his leading man, Real Star Upendra, as well as Shriya Saran. The next destination was Chennai, where the second song, Namaami Namaami was launched. This time around, though, Upendra, wasn’t there, leaving Chandru, Shriya and co-producer Alankar Pandian to do the heavy lifting at the event.

Alankar, who’s earlier co-produced Kiccha Sudeep’s Vikrant Rona, rarely makes public appearances for the film’s he associates with, but when he does, he makes sure to tell people why he’s on board the project. And the Chennai event on February 16 was one such occasion.

From the time Chandru released the first teaser, he’s been trolled incessantly for having made “yet another KGF”. Everything looked and even sounded the same, reckoned netizens, which is not surprising, given that he has Ravi Basrur on board as music director. But the filmmaker has always been bullish about the fact that he’s proud to have attempted to make another KGF, as far as the style of making goes. The narratives of both films are vastly different, is what he’d always maintained. The comparisons, however, have not stopped and came up yet again when the title track came out. Netizens called it a KGF reject, as it sounded a lot like the Toofan song.

In Chennai, Alankar decided to address the comparison between the two films. “Over the last three years or more, I have seen the passion and dedication with which Chandru has been working on Kabzaa. I decided to be a part of it because Kiccha Sudeep, who is like a brother to me, is in it, as well as leading man Upendra and Shriya Saran. This was not an opportunity I could let slip by. As the co-producer, I have had the privilege of seeing the film, which puts me in a better position to address the rumours of similarities between Kabzaa and KGF. I know I may get trolled for this, but I think Kabzaa is a better and bigger film than KGF. It will become apparent once you see the film in theatres,” he said.