Another cousin of Darshan’s, Manoj is following in the star’s footsteps and is set to debut as a lead on the silver screen. After doing few blink-and-miss roles, the actor is now readying himself to become a full-fledged hero.

They were reports of the Thoogudeepa family scouting for good directors to launch Manoj and now we hear that the actor’s debut will be directed by Raghu Shastry. The director, who made his Kannada entry with Vinay Rajkumar’s Run Antony, was appreciated for his latest directorial Loose Connection, a webseries made under Sakkath Studios.

Raghu, who worked on the screenplay and wrote the dialogues for the Dinakar Thoogudeepa-directorial Life Jothe Ondu Selfie, met with Manoj. After a few rounds of discussions, they decided on a one-liner, the story of which is being developed now.

Our source says, “The two are working on a pucca commercial film and the yet-to-be titled project is likely to go on floors from February 2018.” 

More details on the production and cast will be revealed in the coming days.