“It’s a gift from God for 2018!” -- That’s how Aditi Prabhudeva expresses her joy at bagging a film to be directed by none other than Suni, who is currently basking in the success of the Ganesh-starrer Chamak.

The director’s next film Bazaar, starring newcomer Dhanveer Gowda, is based on pigeon racing and gambling, and Aditi has been roped in to play its female lead.

The actor came into the limelight with Nagakannike, a daily soap on TV. Aditi then took a decision to make the transistion to the big screen, and debuted with Shiva Tejas’ Dhairyam starring Krishna Ajai Rao. She has decided to focus on films for now, and a project with Suni has boosted her confidence in her decision, she says. “I have been approached by various filmmakers, even when I had just started with my serial. But I could not take on any of it because 27 days every month was taken up with shooting for the daily soap. It did not leave me any free time for films. Now, with my portions in the serial coming to a close, I thought it was the right time to shift my attention to films,” says Aditi, who apparently went through 22 scripts before accepting Bazaar. “Offers kept pouring in, but I was waiting for that one big break and an opportunity to work with a good team. When Suni offered me this film, I grabbed it with both hands,” she adds.

Aditi, who hails from Davangere, is a pucca local girl, and therefore has a good command over Kannada. She says that this is an advantage for her. “I play a girl-next-door in Bazaar and my fluency in Kannada helped fetch me this role,” she says.

The film, which is to go on floors from Sankranti, has Ravi Basrur as its music director and Santhosh Rai Pathaje as its cinematographer.