Will Upendra prove to be Ghani's lucky mascot?

The Kannada star, whose film Home Minister hit theatres recently, is returning to Telugu cinema after a eight-year sabbatical

Upendra in Ghani

Upendra is a name that needs no introduction to Telugu viewers. Right from his first film as a director to his transformation as a lead actor and his turn as a capable supporting actor, they've been a witness to his rise at every level. It was slightly disappointing that it took him nearly 8 years for the Kannada star to finalise his next Telugu film after Allu Arjun's Son of Satyamurthy. He's now back as Ghani, a film directed by Kiran Korrapati, starring Varun Tej, Saiee Manjrekar in the lead, that hits theatres today.

While he's maintained the suspense around his role in Ghani, not revealing much about it on any public forum, one must wait to see if the eight-year-long wait was worth it after all. His presence definitely brings sheen and aura to the film. However, what's shocking is the absence of any buzz for Ghani, despite the film featuring some very big names like Sunil Shetty, Nadhiya, Naresh and Jagapathi Babu, apart from Uppi.

The Omkaram director definitely has a reasonable fan base in the Telugu land and it's surprising that the makers haven't utilised his presence to his fullest potential prior to release. However, there's no doubt that his presence can provide an edge, an additional motivation for viewers to watch Ghani today. In the pre-release event held earlier this week too, Uppi spoke at length about his connection with the 'Mega' family.

"I was supposed to direct Chiranjeevi for a film back when I was making Omkaram with Rajashekar. I still regret I couldn't make it. When I was a lead actor, I acted with Varun Tej's father Naga Babu in Oke Maata. Later, I worked with Allu Arjun for Son of Satyamurthy and now, I'm working with Varun Tej. Varun's transformation for the film has been astonishing, I couldn't recognise it was the same actor who was a part of Gaddalakonda Ganesh. I have dubbed for my role in the Kannada version of Ghani, kindly watch it in theatres," Upendra said.

One hopes Upendra's next Telugu film after Ghani won't take that long to arrive. Meanwhile, Ghani, produced by Sidhu Mudda and Allu Bobby, has music by S Thaman, is edited by Marthand K Venkatesh and cinematographed by George C Williams.

Share