Shivarajkumar admits that he was hesitant to play Bhairathi Ranagal in Mufti

When director Narthan approached Century Star Shivarajkumar to play a character with grey shades in Mufti, the actor was not immediately sold on to the idea. Yes, his cousin Sriimurali was also in the film, but the fact that his character, Bhairathi Ranagal would appear only in the second half and that he had grey shades had him and his wife Geetha sceptical at first about taking it up. Shivarajkumar was also not convinced if he was the right man for the job. It took Narthan a bit to convince the actor, but once he did and the film became a hit, Bhairathi Ranagal became one of the most-loved characters.

So much so that Narthan had a lot of queries about an ‘origin story’ for Ranagal, who he was before he became a gangster, which will be addressed on August 15, when Bhairathi Ranagal, the prequel to Mufti releases in theatres. The second home production for Shivarajkumar under his banner Geetha Productions, Bhairathi Ranagal is currently about 70 per cent done and the team is looking at winding it up shortly.

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Initially, when Narthan spoke about developing Bhairathi Ranagal, he had said that it would serve as prequel and sequel and explore what happens to the character after he is taken to jail, but off late, there’s been no talk about this possible direction to the story.

Shivarajkumar, who was busy with the promotions of Karataka Damanaka, which is currently in theatres, had taken time off from the Bhairathi Ranagal schedule. While he is expected to resume shooting soon, there will also likely be delays once he begins campaigning for his wife, Geetha, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket from Shivamogga.

Following Bhairathi Ranagal, Shivarajkumar will also have Arjun Janya’s directorial debut 45 this year, in which he has Upendra and Raj B Shetty along with him. The Hattrick Hero will then begin work on Rohit Padaki’s Uttarakaanda, which has Dhananjaya in the lead and brings Ramya back to Kannada cinema. The two-part gangster tale set in North Karnataka has Shivarajkumar in a major role.