Will it be a Vikrant Rona sequel or Ashwatthama next for Sudeep?

A year ago, Kannada filmmaker Anup Bhandari had announced his intention to make an ambitious project on the great immortal warrior Ashwatthama, with Kichcha Sudeep in the lead. At the time, the two were still bang in the middle of making their first collaboration, Vikrant Rona, which was called Phantom back then. Anup was midway writing the script on Ashwatthama when he made his intention public. In a Times of India report, the filmmaker was quoted as saying, “Ashwatthama was one of the most popular characters of the Mahabharatha. He was a courageous warrior and fought on behalf of the Kauravas. Circumstances, though, lead him to be cursed by Krishna who wills that Ashwatthama will live for 3,000 years and roam the earth in distress. So, is Ashwatthama still around, living with us in the present? This forms the crux of the story.”

But with Vikrant Rona now waiting for its date with audiences, there has been a strong buzz that Anup and Sudeep were looking at working together again. After the teaser of Vikrant Rona went viral, it was also speculated that the team was looking at making a franchise of it. A source in the know told OTTplay that Anup has already begun work on the script for a sequel and that Sudeep was keen to work with him again. When we then reached out to the director, he confirmed that Vikrant Rona will indeed become a franchise. The question now is, which film will they choose to do first?

Ashwatthama, meanwhile, seems to be a character who's caught the fancy of other filmmakers too. While a Hindi film with Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan called The Immortal Ashwatthama was in the works, but has now been scrapped over budgetary issues, back home in Sandalwood, filmmaker Pushakara Mallikarjunaiah was supposed to back a Sachin B Ravi directorial with Shivarajkumar in the lead. Let’s see who will actually bring this mythological character to the big screen.