MUMBAI: Rana Daggubati has announced that his next, Haathi Mere Saathi, will release on 2 April. The actor made the announcement along with several new posters from the adventure drama.

In one of the posters, Rana is seen charging towards the camera with an elephant in the background.

Directed by Tamil filmmaker Prabhu Solomon, the tri-lingual film will release as Kaadan in Tamil and Aranya in Telugu. Haathi Mere Saathi is based on the issue of human encroachment upon Kaziranga's elephant corridor.

The film will narrate the tale of a man who dedicates his life to protecting and safekeeping wild animals.

The director is very excited about the project. He added that the objective of bringing out a narrative of this scale in three different languages is to reach out to audiences in various parts of India.

'It is a subject that needs everyone's attention and should be talked about. Hope we make a difference with the three titles,' he added.

For the Tamil and Telugu versions, Daggubati and Vishnu Vishal are playing the lead roles. In Hindi, Pulkit Samrat will be seen as another protagonist.

However, Solomon retained Rana in all three languages—Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi—because of his pan-Indian appeal earned through the Baahubali franchise. The film features Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain as the female leads in all the three versions.

Announced back in 2017, the film was earlier rumoured to be a remake of the 1971 Rajesh Khanna film of the same name, about a man and his friendship with an elephant. Others reported the film is the sequel to director Prabhu Solomon’s blockbuster award-winning film Kumki.

However, as per sources, the makers said, 'It’s neither a remake of Haathi Mere Saathi nor a sequel to Kumki. Prabhu Solomon’s script is fresh, and the rumours have started because elephants played pivotal characters in both Haathi Mere Saathi and Kumki.'

Backed by Eros International, the VFX of Haathi Mere Saathi has been done by Prana Studios, the studio behind Hollywood biggies such as Life Of Pi and Thor, and the Bollywood film Detective Bymokesh Bakshi.

(SOURCE – FIRST POST)