Rishika Sharma to direct Vijayanand biopic next

The film helmed by Trunk director Rishika Sharma has actor Nihal playing the titular role and is based on the journey of Vijay Sankeshwar
Rishika Sharma to direct Vijayanand biopic next

Trunk director Rishika Sharma's next film will be a biopic. Titled Vijayanand, the film will be based on the life of Padamashri Dr. Vijay Sankeshwar and will have Trunk hero Nihal playing the titular role. An announcement about the same was made on Monday along with the first-look poster of the film.

"The idea for a biopic on Vijay Sankeswar came from actor Nihal, which he had told to me two years ago. I took my time to research how to portray such a legend on the silver screen and did some research. Later, I managed to meet Vijay Sankeshwar and gave him a presentation, and after a few rounds of discussion with him, and his son, Anand Sankeshwar, we were given a go-ahead signal for the project," says Rishika.

The project will also be the debut production venture bankrolled by VRL Productions, and it will be out in four south Indian languages -- Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. "Vijay Sankeshwar's journey itself is very inspiring," explains Rishika, who has worked on the script, which will trace the journey of the entrepreneur between 1950-2015 without exploring his political career. "The biopic will be made with commercial elements without diluting the core subject. I am taking a cue from Maniratam's Guru for filmmaking and want to give a similar treatment to this film," she adds.

Gopi Sundar, who has scored music for Geetha Govindam, is roped in for the project. Keerthan Poojary and Hemanth will be handling the biopic's cinematography and editing respectively. Vasant Kulkarni will be taking care of the art direction, Rishika herself will be doing the costume design.
 
Actor Nihal is happy to be playing Sankeshwar in the biopic. "Coming from Uttara Karnataka, I am a big fan of Sankeshwar's work," says Nihal, who is gearing to begin shooting from September. "The biopic will follow his life from his age 16 to 65, and I will be playing him in all the phases. Playing a legendary person's role on the silver screen is a big thing, and I am glad I am getting to play this role, and hope this becomes a turning point in my career," he says.

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