Will a film on Muthappa Rai take shape after his death? Rai died of brain cancer on Friday. A film on the former underworld don, titled Rai, with a tagline The Greatest Gangster Ever was announced in 2016 by producer CR Manohar, and it was to be helmed by filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. Though the makers had initially chosen Sudeep to play the titular role, the team later chose Vivek Oberoi to play the lead. The film was launched amid much fanfare when the team revealed the first look of Vivek Oberoi.
They even had plans to make it in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, and had finalised the locations in Mangaluru, Bengaluru, Mumbai, London, and Dubai, among other places. However, the project did not take off for unknown reasons. Ask producer Manohar whether a film on Rai will take off again, throwing light on the don-turned-philanthropist’s journey, and he says, “There are a lot of interesting facts about Muthappa Rai to be told on the silver screen, and I had already announced the making a film on him when he was alive.
I am looking at taking forward the project, provided I can bring in a director who can justify the biopic, as well as the cast and crew, all of which might take some time.” Manohar, the producer of films like The Villain, is now looking forward to his next project — Raymo, a film directed by Pavan Wadeyar and starring Ishan and Ashika Ranganath.
Chakravarthy was
loosely based on the former underworld don Darshan-starrer Chakravarthy was loosely based on Muthappa Rai. The film, directed Chintan and made under the banner of CSD Veera Films, was released in 2017. It showcased the life of gangster Shankar, a role played by Darshan, who lands up in Bengaluru in search of a job, and decides to wipe out the rowdies in the city. The film also had Dinakar Thoogudeepa playing the antagonist, while Deepa Sannidhi, Kumar Bangarappa, Srjuan Lokesh and Aditya played important roles.