Priyanka Upendra’s period drama, 1980, to drop on Namma Flix on October 15

On Monday, Kannada stars Sudeep and Upendra launched the trailer of the latter’s wife and actress Priyanka Upendra’s film, 1980, a sci-fi period drama that is releasing on October 15 as a Namma Flix Original. Directed by Rajkiran J, the film is a thriller that explores the concept of parallel universes, with someone from 1980 being able to call a person in modern day.

Speaking at the trailer launch, Upendra said, “Going by the trailer, 1980 is a new effort; with a novel subject. I would want to see how the film turns out. It looks interesting, with good locations and production quality. The songs are also nice and I wish the entire team all the very best. The film is releasing as a Namma Flix Original and I hope that it paves the way for many more Kannada films to find a platform for release.” When asked to speak about his wife, Priyanka’s performance, the Real Star joked, “I see even better performances every day at home.”

The launch event was at the Karnataka Kalavidara Sangha in Bengaluru, a stage and setting that became reality thanks to the sustained efforts of the late Rebel Star Ambareesh, which Sudeep remembered at the do. The venue, which has a big screen, where the trailer was screened, also reminded the Kannada star of the importance of the theatrical experience. “It was so beautiful to see something on such a huge screen. I hope the theatrical culture revives, because only then will it do justice to the cinematic experience that a lot of teams have put efforts into. But having said that, I wish this team all the best. Today, when I saw the concept of a parallel universe in the subject of a film, I was reminded of several discussions Upendra has had with me about such possibilities, back when we were shooting together for Mukunda Murari. As for the film, any new effort in Kannada is always laudable, but for it to truly get justice, theatres have to revive. I hope it does and good days are here again. I don’t want to do a scene-by-scene post-mortem of what I have seen in the song or trailer, but I believe you have touched upon a good point,” he said.

1980, which has the tagline, ‘A Demon’s Era’, also stars Sharanya Shetty, Aravind Rau, Sridhar and Murali Sharma in pivotal roles.