Varun Tej's Ghani to release in Kannada

Varun Tej's upcoming boxing drama Ghani is hitting the screens on April 8. Directed by debutant Kiran Korrapati, the film has Varun in the titular role of a professional boxer. Incidentally, the film marks the debut of Allu Arjun's eldest brother and Allu Aravind's son Venkatesh (Bobby), and Siddhu Muddha as the producers. "We finalised the script of Ghani four years ago. At that time, there were hardly any sports films being made in Telugu. Ghani tells the story of a professional boxer, who has to overcome professional and personal hurdles to become a champion boxer. The turmoil Varun's character goes through in the process stands out," says Bobby.

The debutant producer is confident that Ghani will become a successful project at the box office. "Our film is arriving in theatres two weeks after RRR. We believe that all the movie buffs across the Telugu states would have watched RRR by now and are waiting for a new release. The story of Ghani portrays universal emotions, including mother-son conflict, rise, and fall of a boxer; and his struggle to attain success. These emotions will set our film apart from other sports-based films," he adds.

Varun underwent extensive physical transformation to look the part. During the training process, Siddhu says, "Varun has put his heart and soul into the film. He showed no signs of inhibitions over the last four years and travelled with the character. He went to the US and trained under the 2008 Summer Olympics bronze medalist Tony Jeffries. That's not all, we have also roped in Neeraj Goyat, the WBC Asia Honorary Boxer of the year 2017 as his personal trainer, and Hollywood stuntman Larnell Stovall to choreograph the action sequences for the film. Varun also sustained a shoulder injury and it took a few months for him to recover. We will release his transformation video soon to show what he went through for this film."

The film also has Upendra and Suniel Shetty in prominent roles. "Suniel will be seen as a boxer from Northern India and Upendra, too, plays a substantial role. Their characters are connected to the story in a strong manner. Keeping in view Upendra's popularity in Karnataka, we are also planning to dub Ghani in Kannada and release it simultaneously with the Telugu version," says Siddhu.