Revealed! Kabzaa run-time hints at two-part saga for Upendra’s gangster tale

When Kannada director-producer R Chandru announced his film Kabzaa, much like its inspiration KGF, it was first meant to be only one movie. But as the shooting progressed, he revealed that he was looking at telling this gangster tale in two parts after all. The film will be in theatres in just over 10 days on March 17 and Chandru has given no indication in the title if it is only the first part, or if there will be only one movie. When we checked in with the filmmaker about this, he acknowledged having said that it would have two parts, but added that he could no longer confirm or deny the same, and that audiences would know when the film is in theatres.

But then, late on Saturday evening, when Chandru released the trailer of Kabzaa, he gave fans a glimpse into how vast his canvas is, which was indication that it might be difficult to contain the story in one film. Moreover, it has been revealed that the run-time of Kabzaa is a tad under two-and-a-half hour – the film is only 2.25 hours long - which is confirmation that Chandru and Upendra will be back to tell the rest of the story.

Read also: Kabzaa trailer: R Chandru redeems himself with visually spectacular glimpse into the rise of gangsters 

Despite the delay in the launch of the trailer – the Kannada version was uploaded at 1 am on March 5, as against 5,02 pm on March 4 – it has received an overwhelming positive response, which comes as a good sign for the team, especially since audiences seemed to have lost hope on the film after the first teaser and then the three songs. The trailer, say netizens, is testimony that Chandru has not only made an opulent film, but is also set to present a riveting tale. The film’s massive star cast, which also includes Kiccha Sudeep, Shivarajkumar, Shriya Saran, Suneel Puranik, Nawab Shah, John Kokken, Murali Sharma, Anoop Revanna, Danish Akthar Saifi, Posani Murali Krishna, among others, has also added to the excitement surrounding Kabzaa.