One of this Friday’s Telugu releases, KJQ (King Jackie Queen), has been drawing attention with its promotional content. Directed by the late Kiran Kumar, the period crime drama is also special because it marks the filmmaker’s final directorial venture. The film stars Dheekshith Shetty, Shashi Odela, and Yukti Thareja in the lead roles.
During a recent promotional interaction hosted by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, an interesting detail about the film’s origin came to light. Vanga revealed that Kiran Kumar had conceived the story nearly 12 years ago and had originally planned it as a star-led project with Anushka Shetty in the lead role.
However, the project couldn’t materialise at the time. Despite the setback, Kiran Kumar held on to the script and continued developing it over the years. The role that was initially envisioned for Anushka eventually evolved into the character now portrayed by Yukti Thareja, paving the way for KJQ in its present form.
Produced by Sudhakar Cherukuri under the SLV Cinemas banner, KJQ also marks the acting debut of Shashi Odela, brother of ‘The Paradise’ director Srikanth Odela. The film has music composed by Poornachandra Tejaswi and is set to release in theatres this Friday.