Producer Ramesh Reddy, who recently bankrolled the hit film, Gaalipata 2, under his Suraj Productions banner, has now embarked on another big project.

His next, 45, will be a pan-India project, which marks the directorial debut of Arjun Janya and stars Shivarajkumar. Now the latest development is that Upendra has joined the team and will be appearing in a prominent role.

An announcement of Upendra coming on board was made on Sunday. This is the fourth collaboration between Shivanna and Upendra, who have worked in films like Om, Preetse, and Lava-Kush. After a long hiatus, 45 will reunite the two Kannada superstars.

45, which was officially announced on Shivanna's birthday, is now in the pre-production stage. The shooting of this big-budget film will begin in December.

45 will be released simultaneously in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi, and the makers plan to bring in together a big star cast. Apart from directing and composing for 45, Arjun has also written the story and screenplay.