Scriptwriter Kona Venkat says his next film "Shankarabharanam" (also spelled "Sankarabharanam"), slated to release across the globe on 4 December, is set in the backdrop of a crime in Bihar.

Kona Venkat is currently busy with the promotion of "Shankarabharanam" with its lead pair Nikhil Siddhartha and Nandita. The writer says the film is comedy entertainer inspired by a real-life crime in Bihar. The idea of making a film on this subject came to him in 1999.

"The thought came to me in 1999 when I was working as an executive producer for the Hindi film 'Shool'. No one dared shoot in Bihar, but I have a friend named Sharma Rajan, the SP of Motihari district. I met him and explained the situation and he agreed to provide security. We shot for nearly 25 days there with security," Deccan Chronicle quoted Kona Venkat as saying.

"At that time, I got to know about the crime rate in Bihar. Kidnapping was a major industry there and they kidnapped not only people but stole valuables. I felt excited and wanted to make a film with a Bihar crime backdrop," he said. "Interestingly these gangs are run by politicians, MLAs and MPs, which is shocking. They earn nearly Rs 20-25 crore a year from these crimes."

"Shankarabharanam" is loosely inspired by the Hindi film "Phas Gaye Re Obama". The scriptwriter has bought the remake rights of the film. "I didn't take the entire story, I liked one point in it. So I brought the rights of that Hindi film for South," said Kona Venkat.

Uday Nandanavanam is making his debut as director with "Shankarabharanam", for which Kona Venkat has written story, screenplay and dialogues MVV Satyanarayana has produced the movie, which has the music of Praveen Lakkaraju. All of them have worked together earlier on "Geetanjali".

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