Praveen Tej heads to Mangaluru for full-fledged commercial entertainer called Jigar

Praveen Tej, who was last seen onscreen in the Vinay Bharadhwaj directed Mundina Nildana, and has films like Hondisi Bareyiri and Rangamandira in the pipeline, has signed up for what he says is his first full-fledged commercial film. Although Praveen has been a part of action flicks, a massy commercial entertainer with the right mix of drama, emotion, romance and action is a first for him.

Called Jigar, the film by director Suri Kunder, is currently on floors with the team shooting for the first schedule in Karnataka’s coastal belt. Speaking to TOI about the film, Praveen had said, “This is a typical commercial love story, which will be extensively shot around the beaches and the coastal backdrop. I have been apprehensive about doing a complete commercial film, as I wondered if I had the right amount of fan base to draw a crowd for that. But I was convinced by the story of this film and I knew that this would be good. We also have a strong technical team where Shiva Seena, who was part of Tagaru, is the cinematographer.”

The team, says the actor, will head to the Mangaluru belt by the middle of the month for another extensive schedule. They are looking at completing most of the principal photography during this schedule, says Praveen.

Also in the works for the actor is a film called Kathanayaka, in which Praveen is playing a CBI official. A crime thriller with a love story at its crux, the narrative of this film travels along with two parallel story tracks – one set in 2005 and the other in modern day. At the time, Praveen said that since Mundina Nildana his focus has not been on quantity of films, but quality, as he realized that audiences remember actors only in their better movies.