With elections and cricket matches taking precedence, films have naturally taken a back seat. Filmmakers are avoiding this time period and are instead opting for mid-year release dates. Rakshit Shetty-starrer Avane Sriimannarayana, which marks the directorial debut of Sachin Ravi, is now looking at a monsoon release. The team is planning to simultaneously release the period romantic comedy in five languages (Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi) in August. Pushkar Mallikarjunaiah, co-producer of the film along with HK Prakash, confirmed this news.

With Rakshit and Shanvi Srivastava as its leads, the period film has been made with a huge budget that required 600 days of work in total, starting from the scripting stages. “The film took 400 days for the script. Now we have completed 180 days of shoot and are left with another 22 days. The last portions will be shot in two schedules in Bengaluru and Bijapur,” says Pushkar.

The team has also managed to complete the post production work, which, the producer says, was possible because of the in-house facilities. ”The VFX was done at our own Pinaka Studio which helped us simultaneously complete major work. Ninety five per cent of the film’s shoot and 70 per cent of the post production is complete. This time, we are sure to be out in August without any hurdles.”

Pushkar, who has started initiating talks with distributors in other regions, wants to present the making of Avane...with a showreel. “The showreel is getting cut, and discussions will begin once we are completely done with the shoot, probably in May. We have ample time to take the film to them. Since films such as Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, made under our banner, have been remade in a couple of other languages, and Rakshit has established himself across the country with Ulidavaru Kandante and Kirik Party, we are at a good place when it comes to a pan-India release,” he says.

Also starring Achyuth Kumar, Pramod Shetty and Balaji Manohar, Avane Srimannarayana has music by Charan Raj and Ajaneesh B Loknath, and cinematography by Karm Chawla.