Kannada film to be shot in South Africa, Iceland

Bangalore, May 31 : The much-awaited Kannada film 'Raaj, The Showman', which has popular actor Puneet Rajkumar in the lead, will now be shot in South Africa and Iceland as well.

The movie's 35-member team will move to South Africa June 7 to start shooting a song titled 'Hey Paro' in Durban and Johannesburg among other places.

The audio of the film, composed by Hari Krishna, has been released to a good response and only two songs are left to be canned. Made by hugely successful director Prem, 'Raaj, The Showman' is likely to be released July 31.

The film was launched April 24, 2008, but the shooting schedule saw many halts. First, heroine Priyanka Kothari, earlier known as Nisha Kothari, fractured her leg. Then she got busy with Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma's upcoming film 'Rann'.

The unit had planned to shoot two songs in Canada earlier in May but that got cancelled because of the swine flu outbreak.

'We are shooting for 12 days in South Africa for the 'Hey Paro' song. The song has become a huge hit in audio circles and the expectations among fans have skyrocketed,' said producer Sreenivasa Murthy, who has earlier produced the 2007 blockbuster 'Gaja'. He revealed that 20 South African dancers would be included for the song's shoot.

Murthy added that the unit would then proceed to Iceland for shooting one more song.

Director Prem said the film would be digitally graded and it would be technically at par with big budget Hindi flicks.

'We want to showcase the abundance of technical talent in the Kannada film industry through the film. The film has been made with rich production values, but I can assure you that the film's script possesses a lot of strength to attract all sections of audience,' Prem said.

The main highlight of 'Raaj, The Showman' is a song that features Puneet Rajkumar dancing with five leading ladies who had worked with his father, legendary Kannada actor Rajkumar.

The film has also been in the news because this is the first time director Prem and Puneet Rajkumar are working together.