PremiumKiccha Sudeep gives a Billa Ranga Baashaa update and it’s just what fans were hoping for
Director Anup Bhandari’s collaboration with Sudeep, Billa Ranga Baashaa was announced five years ago, but is yet to take off
Last Updated: 12.30 PM, Jan 16, 2024
In December 2018, director Rangitaranga fame director Anup Bhandari had announced his debut collaboration with Kiccha Sudeep. Called Billa Ranga Baasha, the film, a fantasy action adventure that is set two centuries in the future, was what they were looking at doing together. But a futuristic film of that nature requires massive preparation and budgets, owing to which they decided to keep it on hold and do another film instead. Sudeep and Anup then did Vikrant Rona and the one question that both have fielded from fans ever so often in all this time is when they will finally get around to making Billa Ranga Baashaa. Earlier today, while waiting for his flight to Chennai, where he is shooting for his next, Max, Sudeep had a quick #AskKichcha sessions with fans on X (Twitter), a platform that he’s quite active on.
From questions about updates on Max, to why he was returning to direction, and more, there were quite a few that Sudeep responded to. There were a couple of queries about Billa Ranga Baashaa too, with one fan asking about when the film will go on floors, to which Sudeep replied, “2024”. During the #AskKichcha session, the Kannada superstar had said that he was looking at doing two films a year. Max was meant to be finished in late 2023, but the team lost days owing to inclement weather. They are currently working on the climax, which should wrap up the film. Sudeep has also announced his return to direction with a gangster flick called King Kichcha, to be produced by KRG Studios. If Billa Ranga Baashaa is also a 2024 film, it remains to be seen which one will go on floors first.
Sudeep has said that he has a script in place for King Kichcha, but it is unlikely that the actor has been able to devote time to its pre-production yet, what with Kannada Chalanachitra Cup, Celebrity Cricket League, Bigg Boss Kannada and now Max having kept him busy over the last year and more. Anup, on the other hand, has been working on the script since 2018, but more intensely after the release of Vikrant Rona in 2022. In fact, for a while, Billa Ranga Baashaa was thought to be #Kiccha46, which was then taken up by Max. Anup has said multiple times that he is finetuning the script and since mid-2023, has been in pre-production too.
As per the announcements on Sudeep’s birthday in September, the superstar also has films with Tamil director Cheran, and Kabzaa maker R Chandru lined up. Maanaadu director Venkat Prabhu and Sudeep were also meant to collaborate, but there’s been no word on that for a while. Right now, it seems that Max and Billa Ranga Baashaa are the definite Sudeep starrers to look forward to.