Pruthvi Ambaar to make his Marathi film debut with the Dia remake on May 5

Pruthvi Ambaar had been toying with small roles in Tulu and Kannada cinema (some even uncredited) since 2014, until 6-5=2 maker KS Ashoka spotted him and made him one of two heroes in his film, Dia. The film, which opened in theatres in early 2020, before the pandemic struck, was not a runaway hit immediately. “There was some positive buzz surrounding the film, but footfalls did not match it. Then the lockdown came and Dia dropped on OTT, where it became a big hit, probably driven by the fact that people had nothing to do and were stuck at home and then, of course, the fact that the content was likeable also kicked in,” says Pruthvi.

A love story revolving around three major characters, Dia (Kushee Ravi), Rohith (Dheekshith Shetty) and Adi (Pruthvi), the film literally changed around the fortunes of the actors. Not only were all of them called Dia-fame so-and-so, but as soon as lockdown restrictions were lifted and film shoots resumed, the three also had a steady stream of interesting work coming their way. Pruthvi, it seemed was one of the most prolific, signing up for quite a few Kannada films. But he was also the only one from the team, who just couldn’t shake off Dia and move on. Director Ashoka went on to helm the Hindi and Marathi versions of the film, for which he got Pruthvi to reprise his role.

The Hindi version, Dear Dia, which came out last year, was a washout, but the Marathi remake is set to come out on March 5 and Pruthvi is hopeful that it will work well for him in that industry. Called Sari, the film has Ajinkya Raut taking on Dheekshith’s role, Ritika Shrotri in Kushee’s character and Pruthvi as Adi, yet again. Veteran actress Mrinalini Kulkarni is also a part of the film. Speaking to us earlier, Pruthvi had said, “Sari has turned out quite well and I am hopeful of it being received well. The film has a good cast that’s popular in Marathi cinema and the team has retained the story from the Kannada original as is. When the Kannada original came out, there were some who did not like its tragic ending because of the shock value. So, a version in which the last scene was changed to leave it open ended and hinting at a happy ending was released later.”