BENGALURU: Actor and director, Shankar Nag, remains a legend in the Kannada film industry. He rose to fame with the 1981 film, Geeta which may be recalled as an original Kannada drama. Directed by Shankar Nag and written by Arundhati Nag it featured songs by Illayaraja like Santhoshakke, Kelade Nimageega, Yene Kelu or Nanna Jeeva remain popular even to this day.
While there have been reports that the Mungaru Male actor will be associating with Vijay Nagendra, City Express has got wind about the latest development with regard to the project. This version of Geetha will be produced by Syed Salaam in association with Golden Films.
This is the second time that Ganesh is associating with Syed, the first being during Yogaraj Bhat directorial 'Mugulu Nage'.
While the film bears the title of a classic, which adds to the excitement of the film, the makers are quick to clarify that although titled Geetha, this film bears no similarity with the original. “Apart from the title, Shankar Nag’s personality will be woven into Ganesh’s reel role. Otherwise, the script is fresh,” sources said.
Vijay Nagendra, who has worked as co-director for Santhosh Ananddramm’s blockbuster films, 'Mr and Mrs Ramachari' and 'Raajakumara', before turning independent director is on board. Interestingly, the same team who worked for the two films have come together for Geetha.
Our sources tell us that Santhosh has lent his “magical touch” to the script, which is one of the reasons that this film is already creating a buzz. “While Yash brought in shades of Vishnuvardhan in Mr and Mrs Ramachari, and Puneeth Rajkumar brought out Rajkumar’s personality in Raajakumara, Ganesh too has a similar role."
The actor, who been a huge fan of Shankar will bring back the actor’s legacy through his character,” source says. Post Chamak, the actor, has had some interesting projects lined up including Orange with Prashanth Raj, and a project with director Naganna, which will be his first horror movie. A project like Geetha, industry insiders say, will only take Ganesh’s career to another notch.
Announcements about the release date will be revealed on Ganesh's Birthday, July 2