Raghava Lawrence on Kanchana Hindi remake: Want Amitabh Bachchan to play Sarathkumar's role

Talking exclusively to Firstpost, choreographer turned director Raghava Lawrence confirmed that his super hit horror comedy Kanchana (2011) is all set to be remade in the Hindi film industry. “From the beginning, Akshay Kumar sir showed a great interest in playing my character in the Kanchana remake. The shoot of the film will begin in April this year. I will be meeting Akshay sir and the production team in Mumbai by end of this week to confirm the rest of the cast and crew”, said Lawrence, who will be making his directorial debut in Hindi with the Kanchana remake. Lawrence is the second south choreographer-turned-director in Bollywood. Previously, Prabhu Deva has given hits like Wanted and Rowdy Rathore in Hindi. [caption id=“attachment_5947661” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Raghava Lawrence confirmed that Akshay Kumar is on board for the Hindi remake of Kanchana. Image from Facebook[/caption] Akshay Kumar is presently busy with multiple projects including Kesari , Sooryavanshi , Housefull 4, Mission Mangal and Good News . While the Khan’s release a single film each year, Akshay will be having almost six films in his repertoire for 2019. Kanchana itself was a spin-off from Lawrence’s Muni, a horror comedy in which he played a youngster who fears ghost and supernatural powers. Using his character from Muni, Lawrence developed Kanchana which is involves a narrative of how a transgender ghost takes revenge against the ones who destructed her life. Sarathkumar played the transgender in the Tamil version. When asked who is in his mind to play Sarath’s role in the Hindi version, Lawrence said: “I would like to cast Amitabh Bachchan sir for the particular role but things can be confirmed only after the formal discussion with Akshay sir and his team in Mumbai." As Akshay is known for his excellent comic timing and penchant for socially responsible films, Kanchana will be a perfect package for the actor. Besides the entertainment factor, Kanchana also has an important message on how society should treat transgenders. In fact, in the pre-climax portion Kanchana’s hero Lawrence takes revenge against the villains in a transgender getup. Thus, audiences may get to see Akshay in a similar look in the film’s Hindi version. Interestingly, Lawrence’s Kanchana sequel released in 2015 and grossed more than Rs 100 crore in the south. He has now finished shooting for the third part of Kanchana which will be releasing in April. “I’ve finished the talkie portions for Kanchana 3 and only one song is left to be shot. We are planning to release the film in April”, said Lawrence. Produced by Raghavendra Productions, Kanchana 3 has three heroines including Vedhika, Oviya and Nikki Tamboli. Leading Tamil production house Sun Pictures have acquired the Tamil Nadu theatrical rights of Kanchana 3 which will also be simultaneously releasing in Telugu. Along with Kanchana’s Hindi remake, Lawrence is also planning to shoot his next Kaala Bairava in Tamil and Telugu. “I’m planning to simultaneously shoot _Kanchana’_s Hindi remake and Kaala Bairava from April”, he said. Without revealing the genre of Kaala Bairava, Lawrence said: “Just like how Kanchana created a new market for horror comedy franchise in south cinema, Kaala Bairava will present a new genre to audiences. As of now, I can say that the film will look very grand”.