‘Lord of the Rings’ Vision Revealed by Vishnu Manchu for ‘Kannappa,’ Featuring Prabhas, Mohanlal and Shiva Rajkumar (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran Actor-writer Vishnu Manchu has grand plans for big-budget Indian epic “Kannappa.” The film revisits the folk tale of Kannappa, an atheist hunter who became a devotee of Hindu god Shiva and plucked out his eyes in an act of extreme devotion.

The story was previously filmed in the Kannada and Telugu languages as “Bedara Kannappa” and “Kalahasti Mahatyam” in 1954, both starring Rajkumar; in the Hindi language as “Shiv Bhakta” (1955), starring Shahu Modak; in Telugu again as “Bhakta Kannappa” (1976), starring Krishnam Raju; and in Kannada again as “Shiva Mecchida Kannappa” (1988), starring Rajkumar, Shiva Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar.

Manchu plays the title role in the latest interpretation of the story, written by him and directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, best known for his television adaptations of Indian epics “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata.” Telugu film industry stalwarts Prabhas (the Baahubali franchise) and Mohan Babu (“Shaakuntalam”), who also produces, Kannada industry megastar Shiva Rajkumar (“Ghost”) and Malayalam-language industry superstar Mohanlal (“Jailer”) play significant roles in the film, but Manchu is currently not at liberty to divulge what they are.

Manchu says that the basic story of Kannappa is a one-pager at best and South Indian audiences are well familiar with the story. “They all know this legend and they all know what happens in the end – when you’re coming into a theater to see a movie, the biggest surprise element should be the climax, but for us, when the audience is coming into the theater, they already know what the end is going to be.