Upendra’s underworld saga Kabzaa confirms an Ugadi release; to hit theatres on March 17

OTTplay had told you four days ago that filmmaker R Chandru has zeroed in on a release day for his most ambitious film to date, Kabzaa. The film, which has Real Star Upendra in the lead, will get a pan-India release on March 17, which is the late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar’s birth anniversary. According to Chandru, the release date is a tribute to the late actor, but industry pandits reckon that it is more about capitalizing on the Ugadi holiday (Ugadi falls on March 22 this year).

Kabzaa is not the first Kannada film to zero in on March 17, though. Golden Star Ganesh’s Baana Daariyalli has already staked claim to it. There are also reports that several of Puneeth’s old films will find re-releases on the date. For starters, his last project ever, the docu-feature Gandhada Gudi is set to return to theatres, which is why Amoghavarsha’s wildlife venture has not dropped on OTT yet. Last year, on Puneeth’s first birthday after his tragic passing, his last commercial film James hit theatres as a treat for his fans. At the time, director Chethan Kumar had said that his team would look at bringing the film back to theatres every year on the late actor’s birth anniversary.

Despite the box office competition, Kabzaa remains the big-ticket release of that week. The period film, which has been shot entirely in specially-erected sets, has a massive ensemble cast on board, including Kiccha Sudeep, Shriya Saran, Murali Sharma, Nawab Shah, Danish Akthar Saifi, Kabir Duhan Singh, Posani Murali Krishna, Kota Srinivas Rao, Ugram Manju, Anoop Revanna, B Suresha, Dev Gill, among many others. The film follows the protagonist Arkeshwara, the son of a renowned freedom fighter, who goes on to become the king of the underworld between the 60s and 80s.

Read also: Real Star Upendra’s magnum opus underworld saga, Kabzaa, gets a release date

Produced by Chandru, in association with Alankar Pandian of Invenio Origin, the film has music by KGF fame Ravi Basrur. The team had earlier released a teaser, which received mixed response, with many pointing out that it felt way too similar to KGF, whether it was the setting, the colour grading, or the background score, for that matter.