Will Mansore’s next political thriller finally bring Sai Pallavi to Kannada cinema?

For several years now, Kannada audiences have been keenly awaiting the day they’d hear that Sai Pallavi is coming to Sandalwood. There have been the occasional rumours, but none that have lasted as long as the one about National Award-winning filmmaker Mansore’s next. In the last few months, there’s been a strong buzz that the actress has okayed his script in principle and is awaiting the final version before signing on the dotted line. The director has also said that he has, indeed, approached Sai Pallavi to be a part of his film and since Mansore is not known to resort to publicity gimmicks and throw names around to create a buzz for his projects, industry insiders believe that he may actually be the one to bring the actress to Kannada cinema.

Harivu, Naticharami and Act-1978 maker Mansore had earlier announced the multi-lingual biopic Rani Abbakka as his next, but the pandemic disrupted his plans. In the interim, he has decided to make another called 19.20.21. The first look poster that he revealed to announce the film featured a man covered from head to toe in tape that has words like ‘oppress’, ‘government’, ‘human rights’, ‘bureaucracy’, ‘fight’, ‘protest’, ‘atrocity’ and so much more, in what appear to be keywords of the clear direction of the story, which is supposed to be a political thriller. The post was accompanied by a message that read, “19.20.21 isn't a dream or a story, but is based on true events. We wished to make this film a long time ago, but things have finally fallen into place only now and we plan to start shooting at the earliest so that the film is released in 2022. 'Nineteen Twenty Twenty-One' - these numbers hold a lot of significance in our lives, The question is what and how? I hope that the curiosity to learn more about his sustains till the film comes out. We will soon unveil the cast and technical crew of the film and hope that your love and support shall remain with us throughout.”