Uttarakaanda, the second film directed by Rohit Padaki for KRG Studios and the third for the banner with actor Dhananjaya, was meant to be actress Ramya’s comeback movie. She’d decided against returning to cinema with her home production Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye and had instead chosen this film. She’d even attended the muhurtha along with Dhananjaya and did a voice over in north Karnataka dialect for an initial title promo.

But then months went by and when the time came for the film to go on floors, Ramya excused herself from the project. She provided no reason and neither did the film team. They then went ahead and cast Aishwarya Rajesh in the role. Addressing this, Rohit said, “The fact that we’d cast Ramya in the role means that it was strong. We needed an actress who could pull off a fierce character and we found that in Aishwarya. We had auditioned a few other actresses but zeroed in on Aishwarya after her performance in the web series Suzhal.”

Ramya’s departure, he added, was because they wanted to start shooting earlier than planned, which clashed with her previous commitments. The decision to part ways was amicable, says the filmmaker, adding that she’d wished them well. “I believe that when the film is ready for release, she will support us,” said Rohit.

Aishwarya is paired with Dhananajaya, while Shivarajkumar, who is also in a pivotal role in the gangster flick is paired with his Tagaru co-star Bhavana. The film’s ensemble cast also includes Chaithra J Achar, Umashree, Diganth, Vijay Babu, Rangayana Raghu, Gopalkrishna Deshpande and Yogaraj Bhat, among others.

Uttarakaanda is a two-part film, with the first currently in production. The team has completed about 25% of the shoot, which they are hoping to take to 60% with an upcoming schedule spanning 35 days. For the climax, a set is being erected in Bengaluru.

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