Prabhu makes debut in Kannada films

Bangalore, Jan 21 (IANS) Tamil star Prabhu, the son of legendary actor Shivaji Ganesan, is busy shooting in Mysore for his first Kannada film, "Boss".

Prabhu, who plays an investigative officer in the film, will be shooting for 10 days in Mysore for the film. "Boss", budgeted at Rs.50 million, is slated for a Ugadi festival release in March.

The film is produced by Ramesh Yadav and directed by debutant Raghu Raj. It also stars Darshan and Navya Nair in the lead roles.

Prabhu, producer of Rajnikanth's blockbuster film "Chandramukhi", arrived in Bangalore from Kolkata where he was shooting for Mani Ratnam's "Ravan".

The first five days of shooting, which began Jan 12, was in Mysore's Lalitha Mahal Palace and other outdoor locations. The film unit has shifted to Tumkur.

Shivaji Ganesan had acted in two Kannada films in the early 1960s - "School Master" and "Makkala Rajya". Both were directed by legendary producer-director B.R. Panthulu.

Ganesan's family is well connected to Kannada movie icon Raj Kumar's family.

Yadav said that he is a great fan of Ganesan and his son Prabhu.

"Prabhu sir suited the role of the investigative officer in the film. We approached him several months ago and he accepted the offer. But he did not want news of his role to be publicised in the media till he attended the shooting of the film. We acceded to his request," Yadav said.

"Prabhu's daughter is getting married next month and he wants the shooting of his Kannada film to be completed before the marriage. He is very happy that he has got a strong role in the film," Yadav added.

Prabhu and his elder brother Ram Kumar had earlier planned to make a Kannada film with Raj Kumar's son Puneet Rajkumar in the lead. The story of this film is yet to be finalized.