'Kabza' To 'Richard Anthony': Kannada Releases You Should Watch Out For

Indian cinema is quite nuanced owing to our country’s socio-cultural and regional diversity. Although people across the globe think that the cinema industry is limited to Bollywood but things have changed and how! Many regional films like filmmaker Nikhil Mahajan’s Marathi film Godavari make it to international film festivals like the ongoing coveted Cannes Film Festival.

The audience—locally and globally—is now recognising that even regional film industries are capable of presenting cinema that is on par with global standards of filmmaking, perhaps better than that!

After the Kannada film franchise KGF’s success, it is sure that Sandalwood is gearing up to go pan-India and make a prominent space for themselves as other regional film industries have. Viewers are now looking forward to the release of Kiranraj K directorial 777 Charlie. The film is a comedy adventure film about the life of Dharma essayed by Rakshit Shetty and a dog named Charlie. The film also stars Bobby Simha, Danish Sait, Raj B Shetty and Sangeeta Sringeri. Produced by the leading man Rakshit Shetty, the film is gearing up to release soon!

We have compiled a list of other upcoming Kannada releases you should definitely look out for!

Suggested Reading: ‘Nenjuku Needhi’ To ‘Maamanithan’: Upcoming Tamil Releases You Should Look Out For

Upcoming Kannada Films 2022

Kabza

The R Chandru directorial is a period gangster saga which stars Upendra. The film also features actors Kiccha Sudeep, Prakash Raj and Jayaprakash Reddy in pivotal roles. Reportedly, Kabza seems like the Kannada film industry's attempt at a pan-Indian film as it is expected to release in seven languages—Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi and Bengali.

The movie revolves around the journey of one of the most brutal gangsters in India's history; it will also feature actor Shriya Saran in the lead role opposite Upendra. Her first look from the film was recently unveiled. The film will be released in September 2022.

Upendra in Kabza

Vikrant Rona

Vikrant Rona is Kannada fantasy action-adventure film which stars Kiccha Sudeep in the lead role. The Anup Bhandari directorial also features Jacqueline Fernandez, debutante Neetha Ashok and Nirup Bhandari. The film is being touted to be a unique experience and had a grand trailer launch on Burj Khalifa.

The film went into production in August 2020 at a Hyderabad studio and was entirely shot there; Bhandari has extensively used computer-generated imagery instead. It is a multilingual film which will release in Kannada, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages on July 28 after many delays.

Sapta Sagaradaache Ello

Rakshit Shetty will star in a lead role in the romantic drama directed by Hemanth M Rao; actor Rukumini Vasanth has been cast opposite Shetty. The film will be set in two different years--2010 and 2020 the director was quoted as saying. The film's poetic undertones and the beautiful posters released until now have already piqued the interest of the audience.

With the central cast of such seasoned actors and having the best of the crew like Advaitha Gurumuthy for cinematography, and Charan Raj composing music for the film, one can only be rest assured this will be the best! The film is supposed to release in the latter half of 2022.

Still from the film Sapta Sagaradaache Ello (IMDb)

Richard Anthony 

Rakshit Shetty is on a roll in 2022 as he has releases lined up!  The powerhouse actor-producer will don the at of filmmaker again for his film Richard Anthony which he has also written and will appear in as the eponymous character fondly known as Richie. This film is a spin-off to his 2014 film Ulidavaru Kandanthe. 

Details of the film's plot are yet to be revealed; the film backed by Hombale films is being touted to be a mystery drama with a 'layered' storyline and is expected to release on October 17, 2022.

Bell Bottom 2

Actor Rishab Shetty will be back as Detective Diwakar in the sequel of the 2019 hit film Bell Bottom. Set in the 1980s, the sequel film will revolve around a gold treasure hunt. The Jayateertha directorial also stars Hari Priya, Tanya Hope, Yogaraj Bhat and Pramod Shetty in major roles. Composer Ajaneesh Loknath and cinematographer Arvind Kashyap also return for the sequel. The thriller film will be released in theatres on June 17, 2022.

Rishab Shetty as Detective Diwakar In Bell Bottom