The highly anticipated historical drama Kannappa will bring together an incredible cast starring superstars Akshay Kumar, Prabhas, Vishnu Manchu, Mohan Babu, R. Sarathkumar, Madhoo, and Mohanlal. The film is written and produced by Vishnu Manchu and Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh.
An exciting teaser launch of the film Kannappa was held on Thursday in Mumbai giving a glimpse of the grand project starring Akshay Kumar in his Telagu cinema debut film playing Lord Shiva.
Kannappa is a tale of an Atheist who becomes an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Based on the references to Shiva Mahapuran and Mahabharata, the film ‘Kannappa’ brings to the fore the glorious history of our nation, which is not just mythology.
Talking about the concept and bringing to the audiences the mythology as history Director Mukesh Kumar Singh said, ” It’s a journey of bringing to the audiences the legend of Kannappa and that period, which is just not mythology but our history which has been proved eith with historical, celestial and archaeological evidences, that these periods existed and lot research is being conducted on them.People think about Rama, Krishna and Kannappa as if they were just mythological characters, but they existed, and we even have a village of Kannappa in south India, which has been certified by the Archeological Survey of India.”
He added giving the present references,”Kannappa is a historical figure and based on a folk tale.We have the Sri Kala Hasti Mandir in Tirupati Balaji which has five lingams of Shiva representing Earth, Water, Fire, Air (Vayu) and Space. The Vayu lingam still breathes even today, and there are two lamps which flicker with it’s breath. You may believe it or not but you can go and witness yourself, so these are historical facts because we have proofs of them.”
The teaser is a visual delight shot in New Zealand depicting an era of 2nd Century Bharat with its vast untouched landscape, rivers, mountains and grooves, and the search to find such a land took Vishnu to New Zealand.It was the most apt location for this film, where every shot captures its exotic scenic beauty.
How challenging was it to convert a mythological legend into a historical film? Screenplay writer, actor and producer Vishnu throws light on his decades of journey in nurturing and bringing this project to life saying,” This idea came to me in 2015 by someone, and since then I have been travelling, because to mount a movie of this scale my market wasn’t big enough, but I think with the blessings of Lord Shiva, my father Mohanlal once said to me to go ahead and everything fell in place.Every actor I wanted to cast in this movie came onboard and I believe it was Lord Shiva’s order to tell this story and I executed it. Who all acted in the film all happened for all the love and respect they have for my father and I am extremely grateful to him.”
Adding on the history of Kannapa, Vishnu added,” I believe that the story took place in the 2nd century, and we find the first reference to Kannapa in Adi Guru Sankaracharya’s Shiva Purana. Kannappa was an Adivasi who offered meat to Lord Shiva, and we also find it’s written references in one of the jyotirlingas near Hyderabad. The Vayu lingam is the only lingam which has the base of a spider, the side of an elephant tusk, and the top of a snake, which is in the Sri-kala-hasti Ishwara temple, and Kannappa is the devotee of that lingam.”
He further added,” The 14th Century King Krishnadevraya’s court poet wrote poems on the Sri-kala-hasti Ishwara temple and Kannappa on palm leaves, which were lost over the period of time.They were found again in the 18 th century by a British collector who translated them into English with the help of scholars, and published them in 5 books which are in Bikaner Museum. Thus, this history was preserved. Later a silent film was made based on this book ‘Kannapa Nayanar’ in 1938, and in 1953, legendary actor Dr Rajkumar made his Arangetram through his film ‘Bedara Kannada’ in Kannada and acted Shiva in its Telugu remake ‘Kalahasti Mahatyam’ Later the movie ‘Shiv bhakt’ was made in Hindi on the same.”
The first name that Vishnu thought for Shiva was of Akshay Kumar. He said, ” I did not have any personal connection with him initially, but having worked with him now, I have so much to learn from him. The moment he walked into the set he inspires people from just being, who he is. Being one of the biggest superstars of the country, and what made him achieve it is his discipline and his love for the craft. I believe that anyone who watches Kannappa and thinks of lord Shiva only Akshay Kumar will come to their minds and that’s the kind of devotion he brings to the movie.”
Akshay Kumar, who plays Lord Shiva in Kannappa, shares his experience and association with playing Shiva. He said,” I feel it’s my good fortune that I get to play such roles. In ‘Oh My God 1’, I played lord Krishna, and in ‘Oh My God 2’, I played Shivji, and now again in Kannappa, I’m again playing Shivji. I want to share a childhood memory of when my father came to Mumbai, who was an army officer and a wrestler with a great height and build.We had once gone to see a shooting, and he was approached on the shoot to play Shiva; although it was a short role, I feel there is some connection that I get to play Shivji.”
Akshay shares his experience about working with Vishnu on Kannappa, saying, ” When I first time met him, the way he said it just came to me as he’s a genuine director, producer and actor, and that’s what roped me in. I never asked him the script and I went with the flow.”
Akshay Kumar reunites with Madhu on screen after 20 years in Kannapa, having worked in films Ailan and Zalim said,” I’m very happy working with her after so many years as she hasn’t changed in years, seems she sleeps in a refrigerator…laughs.”
Actress Madhu, who’s seen playing a warrior queen in the teaser, shared,” I’m so glad to receive such love and appreciation in spite of the fact l, that I kept myself away from the industry for 10-15 years. I feel all of us here on this platform have such humility and humbleness, and they all have earned it.”
She adds,” This movie is special for me after my comeback as I am playing a warrior Queen with a sword standing amongst these action superstars Akshay, Prabhas and Vishnu. I feel extremely humbled for this role to Vishnu and I hope you like me in it, as I felt like an action Queen in those shots. Working on this film was nothing less like a picnic in New Zealand as we shot for 25 days, it was so much fun.”
Three Kannappa comics were also released on the occasion with an idea to make the legend familiar with the new generation.The film Kannapa is scheduled to be released in theatres on 25th April 2025.
