Thrigun’s Lineman pushed to March 22 following slight delay in Telugu censor certification

The Kannada-Telugu bilingual Lineman, which was recently screened as part of the Bengaluru International Film Festival, was set to be in theatres this week, but a delay in the censor certification of the Telugu version has forced the team to push it ahead. Speaking to OTTplay, producer Ganesh Papanna said that the team was keen to have a simultaneous release of both versions, and that the delay in getting the Telugu one censored ate into the window they had for the online digital transfer on Qube.

“Lineman is a Kannada-Telugu bilingual film in the truest sense, in that we have actually shot each scene twice. It is not a Kannada film that has been dubbed in Telugu or vice-versa. We are introducing Telugu actor Thrigun in Kannada cinema with Lineman. The rest of the cast and crew is all from Kannada cinema,” explains Ganesh, adding that the Kannada version of the film was censored some time. 

“We should get the Telugu certification shortly and are pushing the release ahead by a week only. We would have been cutting it too close with the satellite upload if we insisted on the March 15 release. Lineman will now be in theatres across Karnataka and AP/Telangana on March 22,” he added.

Lineman, meanwhile, is a film that revolves around the electricity board lineman in a village, whose refusal to provide power for a particular function sparks a series of events. Thrigun plays Natesha, the lineman, while the rest of the cast includes B Jayashree, Sujay Shastry, Harini Srikanth, Samarth Narasimharaju, Kadri Manikanth, Chetan Gandharva, among others.

Moving to March 22 gives the film a little more breathing space at the box office, as the only other Kannada film to have booked that slot so far is Sharan’s Avatara Purusha 2 - Trishankupayanam.