Uttarakaanda update: Shivarajkumar-Dhananjaya film only paused, not shelved; will resume when…

When Kannada filmmaker Rohit Padaki was announced as the director of Yuva Rajkumar’s sophomore project Ekka, which would be jointly produced by PRK Productions, KRG Studios and Jayanna Films, the question on everyone’s mind was about Uttarakaanda, the film that the director was leaving behind to start this one. A much-hyped two-part gangster tale set in north Karnataka, Uttarakaanda features a vast ensemble cast, with Dhananjaya and Shivarajkumar in the lead.

Dhananjaya has been busy shooting for Anna From Mexico and will begin 666 Operation Dream Theatre with Hemanth M Rao shortly, while Shivarajkumar has resumed shooting following surgery for his cancer treatment, and is focusing on his film with Karthik Adwaith, as well as the roles in Peddi and Jailer 2 and his home production, A for Anand. Does this mean that Uttarakaanda stands shelved?

Also read: Bhavana to be paired with Shivarajkumar in Uttarakaanda 

Uttarakaanda is priority after Ekka release

Karthik Gowda of KRG Studios and Rohit deny this vehemently and maintain that after the release of their current collaboration Ekka, the priority will be getting Uttarakaanda back on the road. At a media briefing for Ekka, the team clarified that the shoot of Uttarakaanda was paused when they became aware of Shivarajkumar’s health issues, which, at the time, was not public knowledge.

Although the Century Star has resumed work, he’s not started doing heavy-duty action sequences, which is why his film with Hemanth, Bhairavana Kone Paata has been postponed indefinitely. This is also the reason that Uttarakaanda has not started again. “Uttarakaanda is an action-heavy film and a lot of it involves Shivanna’s character, so we had to give him enough time to recuperate,” explained Rohit.

Also read: Uttarakaanda director Rohit Padaki addresses Ramya’s departure from film 

As of now, the filmmaker says that he’s not made any changes to the narrative of Uttarakaanda, but a final call will be taken once the team sits for a discussion with Shivarajkumar about when they can likely return to the set. Uttarakaanda’s cast also includes the likes of Aishwarya Rajesh, who makes her Kannada debut with the film, Chaithra J Achar, Bhavana, Atul Kulkarni, Diganth, Vijay Babu, Rangayana Raghu, Yogaraj Bhat, among others.