Veteran actor Anupam Kher set to make his Kannada film debut

Kannada actor-filmmaker MG Srinivas’ next directorial, Ghost, has been making headlines for several reasons in recent days. For starters, the film has Century Star Shivarajkumar in the lead and brings Malayalam actor Jayaram to Kannada cinema. Despite the title, the film, according to Srinivas, has nothing paranormal about it and is an action-packed thriller, which is already about 60% done.

Now the latest is that the team has managed another casting coup. Ghost will have veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher in a pivotal role, which, incidentally, will be his Kannada film debut. Producer Sandesh Nagaraj let slip on Thursday that his team was able to convince Kher to be a part of the film and that it took them a good month and a half to finally get him onboard. An official announcement, he added, would be done over the weekend.

Ghost, meanwhile, is a subject that Srinivas was toying with after his last directorial, Old Monk. His plan was to get started on the next instalment in his Birbal Trilogy, but then, during a conversation with producer Sandesh, the latter asked Srinivas if he had any story/script that would be apt for Shivarajkumar. Sandesh liked the basic outline of the plot and asked Srinivas to pitch it to the Century Star, who, in turn, also fell in love with the subject. In fact, it is Shivarajkumar who suggested that they get Jayaram onboard for the second lead role.

The film, according to Srinivas, will not have a female lead, as the story does not demand it. While he has been tight-lipped about the story and the characters that Shivarajkumar and Jayaram play in the film, details about when Kher will join the set are expected when he makes a formal announcement about the casting. Srinivas is looking at completing principal photography by February to make Ghost a summer 2023 release.