And now, Preetham Gubbi’s a producer!

Joining the long list of directors who have turned producers like Ravichandran, Yograj Bhat, Guruprasad, Om Prakash Rao, S Narayan, Prem and Dinakar Toogudeepa is Preetham Gubbi.

Preetham, who entered the Kannada film industry as scriptwriter of the runaway hit like Mungaru Malé, is now turning producer with Nam Duniya Nam Style. “My script required me to cast fresh faces and I wasn’t sure if producers would be ready to invest the kind of money I was looking at on newcomers. So, I decided to produce the film myself under the banner Gubbi Talkies,” explains Preetham.

But had he not approached established actors like Vijay and Diganth to be a part of this film earlier? “I had discussed the projects with a few stars but I don’t want to reveal their names. I eventually had to drop the idea as we were unable to get their dates at the same time. That’s when I decided to make the script a little more youthful and cast new actors,” he says.

The present star cast includes RJ turned actor Vinayak Joshi, TV anchor Likith Shetty, Krishna, who is already doing a film called Madanari, newbies Kavya Shetty and Milana Nagraj. Says Vinayak, “I could not have asked for a better comeback than this. It is a performance oriented role.

I play a miser and essaying this role will prove quite a bit of a challenge given that I am anything but that in real life. Anyway, I’m thankful to Yogi, the co-director who referred me to Preetham.” It’s not just the star cast that is relatively new but the music director too. Preetham has roped in Shaan Rahman from Kerala to compose the music. The story and screenplay is by Preetham himself while Venu is the cinematographer.

Nam Duniya Nam Style is the story of three childhood friends. It also tracks their love lives. The film will be shot in Bangalore and Malaysia. It will go on floors on December 10. Once Preetham finishes shooting this film, he is expected to begin work on the sequel of the Vijay-Ramya starrer, Jhonny Mera Naam, Preethi Mera Kaam.