Shivanna & Abishan to play father & son in 'feel-good family drama'

Veteran Kannada star Shiva Rajkumar and actor-director Abishan Jeevinth will play father and son in a forthcoming film. Describing the project that is set to be shot entirely in Chennai, debutant Gautham Sivaraman, who helms the film, says it's a "feel-good family drama about a father and son".

"It's a commercial entertainer with songs, romance, comedy, and emotions. The characters in the film won't feel alien, and there won't be any adult content or double meaning," he adds.

On getting Shivanna on board, he reveals, “I needed to bring in someone we haven't seen much in Tamil cinema. He's known for mass commercial entertainers, and I thought, 'How would it be if he played a regular dad?' Also, his character demands the performer in him."



Recalling how he pitched the film to the Kannada star, who will also be dubbing his lines in the film, Gautham states, "I was excited to even get a story narration meeting with him. It's my debut film, and since I had a small profile, I didn't know how he would welcome me. But, to my surprise, he looked after me like his son. Initially, I thought he said he liked the film so as not to make me feel bad. But the interest he showed was overwhelming."

Interestingly, Abishan was locked for the project right from the writing stage. "We started writing with him in mind. I really liked his acting in Tourist Family. He has that boy-next-door image. After With Love, I was even more confident that he could easily pull off his role in my film."

Yogalakshmi and Shivani Nagaram, known for the Telugu film Little Hearts, play the female leads. "Both roles have good performance scopes. and that's the reason we cast them; we wanted good performers," he shares.

'Abishan is a bundle of talent'Shiva Rajkumar is a fan of Abishan’s debut directorial Tourist Family, says Gautham. "Shiva Raj sir really liked Tourist Family, especially Abishan’s portion. He watched it four times. He said that Abishan is a bundle of talent."