'Attahaasa, Satyananda' to hit screen this month

Decks have been cleared for the release of the two much-hyped, delayed and anticipated Kannada movies — one on forest brigand Veerappan and the other on controversial godman Swami Nityananda. Attahaasa portrays the life of Veerappan, while the other film, originally titled Satyananda, is said to delve into the lifestyle of controversial godman Swami Nityananda. Both the movie are set to hit the screen this month.

Shooting for bilingual (Tamil and Kannada) Attahaasa, under the direction of AMR Ramesh, commenced in July 2011 but its release was put off as a case was filed by Veerappan’s wife Muthulakshmi. She alleged that her husband was shown in poor light.

Now, the Madras high court has ruled in favour of its release. “I am planning to release the Kannada version in more than 120 theaters across the state,” said an elated Ramesh after hearing the judgment. According to Ramesh, over Rs8.5 crore was spent on the movie in which Bollywood actor Suresh Oberoi plays late Dr Rajkumar.

“It took us 10 days to complete the climax sequence at Dharmapuri. What's more special about this movie is that we visited almost all the places where Veerappan used to stay with his followers,” he said.

If all goes well, Attahaasa will be released on February 14, he said, adding that a Telugu-dubbed version will be out soon. Kishore plays Veerappan in the movie.