Exclusive: Murli Sharma makes Sandalwood debut with Kabzaa

Among the slew of pan-Indian films that are lined up, Upendra and Kichcha Sudeepa-starrer

Kabzaa

is among those that are eagerly awaited. This period gangster drama is directed by

R Chandru

. The film already has a big star cast that also includes Shriya Saran, who began shooting for the film recently. Now, Chandru reveals that Murli Sharma will be making his Kannada film debut with this film.

"Murali is extremely popular with Telugu and Hindi audiences. His role in Ala

Vaikunthapurramuloo

won him a lot of fanfare. This is one reason we decided to approach him to play a pivotal role in our film. He plays a character named

Veera Bahaddur

, who hails from the royal

Bahaddur

family," shares Chandru. Murli, who is among one of the highest-paid character artistes in the South Indian film industry today, has already shot for the film.

The filmmaker says that he recently wrapped up a mammoth schedule of the film. "With this, we have completed nearly 85% of the film. There is another big schedule left, which includes around 20 days of shoot, and some new actors will join us then. We are looking at releasing the film this year itself and work for the same is underway," reveals Chandru.