Daali Dhananjaya is back as Pushpa’s Jolly Reddy; begins shooting for sequel

The Kannada star is also busy with Uttarakaanda, as well as the release plans of his next production, Tagarupalya

Dhananjaya back as Jolly Reddy

The team of the Telugu film Pushpa, led by Allu Arjun, has just barely announced that they have locked August 15, 2024 for the release of the much-awaited sequel and now we hear that shooting has also kicked off, with much of the main cast back on set. Kannada star Dhananjaya, who plays the antagonist Jolly Reddy has reportedly begun shooting for his portions in the film. Jolly as seen in the original film, is Sandalwood smuggler Konda Reddy’s (Ajay Ghosh) younger brother, who has an axe to grind with Allu Arjun’s Pushpa. At the end of the first film, though, Jolly was left severely incapacitated after a fight with Pushpa, and it seemed unlikely that the character would return in the sequel. However, the makers had confirmed that Dhananjaya was still very much a part of the project, so it would be interesting to see how they make that happen. Pushpa 2's main cast also includes Fahadh Faasil as SP Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, Rashmika Mandanna and Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari, among many others.

Pushpa was Dhananjaya’s first full-fledged Telugu film, although he had done the Kannada-Telugu bilingual Bhairava Geetha earlier. The actor will soon be seen in Satyadev’s 26th film Zebra, which will be Dhananaya’s 26th film as well. He plays one of the leads in the film. Back home in Kannada, the Natarakshasa is bang in the middle of his next with Rathnan Prapancha maker Rohit Padaki, a gangster tale set in north Karnataka called Uttarakaanda. The actor plays a dangerous gangster called Gabru Satya in the film, which will mark actress Ramya’s comeback to acting. Later in the year, Dhananjaya will reunite with Badava Rascal director Shankar Guru for a film called Anna From Mexico. Also on the cards is a film that will mark the directorial debut of Parameshwar Gundkal, who is best known as the business head of a popular Kannada general entertainment channel.

Read: Dhananjaya: Going forward I will only do massy action entertainers for family audiences

Dhananjaya is also busy with planning the release strategy of his next production venture, Tagarupalya, which has his pal Nagabhushana in the lead. The film will launch Nenapirali Prem’s daughter Amrutha as a leading lady. The film, which is a rural subject that follows incidents surrounding a temple festival and its associated customs. The title track, composed by Vasuki Vaibhav, has been well received. The film, we hear, will be in theatres for Rajyotsava 2023.

Read: Dhananjaya: I do multiple films because I need to work and can’t say no when good scripts come to me

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