Shikari is an upcoming bilingual film in Kannada

Kannada language

Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

 and Malayalam

Malayalam language

Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...

. The film is written and directed by Abhay Simha. It stars Mammootty

Mammootty

Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

 and Poonam Bajwa

Poonam Bajwa

Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu language films. A Punjabi by birth, she made her acting debut in the 2005 Telugu film Modati cinema, following which she appeared in several noted Telugu films, including Boss opposite superstar Nagarjuna and...

 in the lead, with Aditya, Mohan

Mohan (actor)

Mohan is a popular Kollywood actor. He hails from the Udupi district of Karnataka. He derived his name Kokila Mohan after debuting in a film called Kokila, which starred Kamal Haasan in the lead role. He considers Balu Mahendra as his mentor...

 and Innocent doing other major roles. The film is the Kannada debut of Mammootty, and also the Malayalam debut of director Abhay Simha and music director V. Harikrishna

V. Harikrishna

Hari Krishna is a music director and singer in the Kannada film industry and has won 3 consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music for Gaalipata in 2008, Raaj The Showman in 2009 and Jackie in 2010.-Career:...

. Both Mammooty and Poonam Bajwa play double roles, set in two different timelines.

Plot

The story revolves around a the life of a software engineer, who stumbles upon a novel called Shikari. He begins to read it and falls in love with a character from the book, which is set in the pre-Independence era. The story unfolds in two time-lines and both the actors play two characters each.

Production

The title role of the film is played by Mammootty

Mammootty

Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

. About his casting, he says: "I was drawn to this project by the director's (Abhay Simha) vision to make this concept believable". Mammootty
plays a software professional who chances upon a manuscript of an unfinished novel and falls in love with a character. Poonam Bajwa

Poonam Bajwa

Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu language films. A Punjabi by birth, she made her acting debut in the 2005 Telugu film Modati cinema, following which she appeared in several noted Telugu films, including Boss opposite superstar Nagarjuna and...

has been signed in to play the heroine. She will be playing the love interest of character played by Mammootty. Sharmila Mandre was also approached to do this role. Aditya, who thinks working with Mammootty is an honour, says about his role: "
"I play a dream-seller and my character is required to appear in the movie on and off".