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Hindustan Times

Shodha: Lucia-fame Pawan Kumar leads new 6-episode Kannada suspense thriller series

Z5 is set to get its second Kannada original web series this year; just over two months since the first, Ayyana Mane, came out. Called Shodha, this one is a 6-episode suspense thriller led by filmmaker-actor Pawan Kumar, best known as the man behind films like Lifeu Ishtene, Lucia, U-Turn and Dhoomam. An occasional actor, Shodha is Pawan's first as a leading man and in a web series. He was earlier seen in the Kannada series Honeymoon as well as his own Telugu show, Kudi Yedamaithe. He is joined by Siri Ravikumar, who has been a part of two Kannada series earlier – Kyaabre and By Mistake. Shodha headed to Z5 on August 22 Shodha: A thriller set in Coorg Directed by Sunil Mysooru, of the Kannada film Orchestra Mysuru, the show has been written by Suhas Navarathna, who is credited as the creator of Kyaabre and is on the writing team of The Family Man (Season 2 and 3). The streamer is yet to reveal further details about the show's cast and crew and the story, with a trailer expected before the show drops on the platform on August 22. Going by the posters of the lead cast that they have revealed, though, it appears that Shodha is a story set in a family in Coorg. The mystery revolves around what befalls the lead couple, Rohit and Meera, played by Pawan and Siri. Ayyana Mane was produced by Shruti Naidu and directed by actor-filmmaker Ramesh Indira, both of who have a long association with the network as daily soap makers, and had a relatively lesser-known cast on board, barring leading lady Kushee Ravi (of Dia fame). With Shodha, the streamer is stepping it up - Pawan has worked in Hindi (the web series Leila), Telugu (Kudi Yedamaithe) and Malayalam (Dhoomam with Fahadh Faasil), besides, of course, in his homeground Kannada. After years of having major streaming platforms overlook Kannada when it came to creating or acquiring content, especially with regard to web series, Z5 made baby steps in that direction, under RJ Pradeepa, the Head of Originals at the platform. This is not surprising, given that Pradeepa had launched a banner Sakkath Studio, and made a bunch of Kannada web shows earlier, some of which he co-produced with actor Shivarajkumar's daughter Niveditha. Pradeepa was the creative head on shows like Loose Connection, Hate U Romeo, Honeymoon and By Mistake, most of which were well received back in the day. Honeymoon and By Mistake are available to stream on OTTplay Premium, as also Ayyana Mane. Shodha will join in on August 22.