KM Chaitanya’s Abbabba release pushed ahead; new date of Likith Shetty and Amrutha Iyengar film to be announced later

Filmmaker KM Chaitanya’s next is the horror comedy Abbabba, which has Likith Shetty and Amrutha Iyengar in the lead, and was supposed to release in theatres on July 1. The team had announced the release date for the film that was to be distributed by KRG Studios some time ago. Strangely, with only three days to go, this evening, Chaitanya announced that they were not going ahead with this release plan and that a new date would be revealed in due course of time.

Abbabba, meanwhile, is the Kannada remake of the Malayalam film Adi Kapyare Kootamani, which had Dhyan Sreenivasan, Namitha Pramod, Aju Varghese, Neeraj Madhav and Mukesh, among others, on its cast. The story unfolds in a strict boys’ hostel, where the warden does not allow entry to girls. What happens when some inmates smuggle a girl in for a particular reason and are then unable to get her out without anyone else noticing, forms the crux of the narrative.

Beside Likith and Amrutha, the Kannada version has Ajay Raj, Thandav Ram, Dhanraj Achar, Vijay Chendoor, Sharath Lohithashwa and Anusha Rai, among others, on the cast. Earlier this month, the team had got Kiccha Sudeep to launch the trailer, the visuals of which felt like Chaitanya was presenting a faithful remake of the original. Launching the trailer, Sudeep had said, “Abbabba is Chaitanya’s 9th film. After a long time, here is a wonderful comedy; one with youthful content. I guess it is one of a kind. I was happy to launch the trailer and wish the team all the very best.”

The film has music by Deepak Alexander and is the debut production venture of Malayalam actress Ann Augustine. In fact, when it was announced, the film was credited to Friday Film House, the makers of the original version, as well on the productions side. Friday Film House, though, is a venture by actor-producer Vijay Babu, who is currently embroiled in an alleged sexual assault case. The newer posters of Abbabba, though, only cite Miramar Films, which is run by Ann and Vivek Thomas.