'Hemanth and Samikshaa are the soul of 99’

Preetham Gubbi and Ganesh’s film 99 is on the floors, and the makers have temporarily set up camp on the coastal belt, where the shooting is currently taking place. The film, inspired by Tamil blockbuster 96, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha, has the Golden star and Bhavana reprising the lead roles. 

For the Kannada version, denoting the year 1999, director Preetham Gubbi has roped in Hemanth and Samikshaa, who are playing the younger versions of Ganesh and Bhavana in the film. The film went on floors in December and the two young talents have almost completed shooting their portions. 

Preetham, who has based his film in picturesque locations of Thirthalli, says both Hemanth and Samikshaa form the soul of 99. "They carry the film for a long time, and both have brilliantly played their characters. Samikshaa, who has worked in television, is basically from Shivamogga. As for Hemanth, he is an aspiring talent. Since both of them have not appeared much, they bring freshness to the story. Everything is shaping up well. Through this film, we have got the 90s era back on the silver screen,” he says. 

Meanwhile, Ganesh joined the set today and will be shooting at a stretch along with Bhavana. 99 will be music director Arjun Janya's 100^th film. The film, made under Ramu Enterprises, has cinematography by Santhosh Rai Pathaje.