Chikkanna’s next as leading man is Lakshmiputra; produced by Martin director AP Arjun

A year after Chikkanna's Upadhyaksha released, his next as leading man has been launched. This time, he's presenting a fun, yet emotional tale revolving around a mother-son relationship.

Chikkanna's next as hero is Lakshmiputra

Popular Kannada comedian Chikkanna turned leading man with last year’s Upadhyaksha and is now prepping for his next. Chikkanna is the protagonist of director-producer AP Arjun’s Lakshmiputra, which is being directed by the filmmaker’s long-time associate Vijay S Swamy. The muhurtha of the film was held on January 24, with shooting set to begin in February.

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Lakshmiputra is an emotional tale revolving around a mother-son bond; a genre that Chikkanna wanted to explore after he saw the kind of audience that came to theatres to see Upadhyaksha. “Out of 100 people, at least 60 were family audiences, and it is then that I realized that even that set of viewers likes to see me onscreen. As such, I wanted to do a film specifically for family audiences and reached out to Arjun about a story he’d told me some time ago, which was then developed as Lakshmiputra,” says Chikkanna.

While the central crux is the mother-son relationship, Chikkanna’s strong suit comedy will also be a major part of the narrative. Tara plays Chikkanna’s mother in the film, while a leading lady is yet to be cast. Joining Chikkanna for the humour quotient are Kuri Pratap and Dharmanna Kadur. The story of Lakshmiputra is by Arjun, who says that he wrote it during the pandemic, a time when emotions were running high.

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The plan, says Chikkanna, is to wrap up the film quickly and have it in theatres for Varamahalakshmi (August 8), provided there’s no clash with any other big-ticket movie. “Upadhyaksha released in January 2024 and it’s taken me a year to get to my next film as hero. Thankfully, the follow up is a story that will touch audience’s hearts and by the time they walk out of the theatre, they will, no doubt, pull out their phones and call their mothers. Although audiences do not like message-laden films, we are trying to tell something important in this film in the most entertaining fashion,” the actor signs off.

Upadhyaksha is streaming on Sun NXT; you can also watch it on OTTPlay Premium

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