Avatara Purusha (2022 film)

Director Suni stated that he was "intrigued by the subject of black magic". He said he "took inspiration from a bunch of novels" including Tulasi Dalam. He used black magic as the theme and wrote a story to be adapted into a web series, but eventually decided against it as he was unsure as to how "OTT would work with Kannada audiences".[6] The film was titled after a 1988 film of the same starring Ambareesh, "because the makers felt the title was apt for the story". Producer Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah added that the film takes a leaf from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Suni stated that lead actor Sharan would play a "junior artiste" in the film and "will be one among the crowd. He has many roles to play, and will be seen in many get ups. The different shades of him also relates to his own life. The title Avatar Purusha blends with the story." He said that "[e]xtensive research has gone into the film. Avatar Purusha will see an element of Trishanku and the slogan Aswathama Hatha Kunjaraha..., which adds a valuable point in our film".[7] Suni added that the film explored the practice of black magic in Karnataka. To study more about it, he travelled to Kerala, Kollegal and Rajasthan "where they practice black magic. We got to experience the vibrations and more." He stated that the Hindu mythological King Trishanku's desire to remain immortal and sage Vishwamitra's creation of a loka for him, before the former backed out after learning that he has to hang upside down there, served as the base for the film because, "when Trishnanku's world became empty, there were people who wanted to find that world." Special sets to depict the loka and an animated story that shows narrating Trishnanku's tale were created.[8]

Sharan and Ashika Ranganath, who worked together previously in Raambo 2 (2018), were cast as the leading pair.[9] Ashika stated that she would play "a bold girl" in the film,[10] a non-resident Indian named Siri.[11] Srinagar Kitty was cast to play a practitioner of black magic from Odisha named Kumara, one of the avatars of Sharan's character.[12][13] It was reported that Charan Raj would score music for the film, while William David would serve as the cinematographer. Suni further added that filming was to begin on 11 February 2019, and that a major part would be shot in Chikmagalur, Karnataka.[7] That Ashutosh Rana would be a part of the film, his return to acting in Kannada films after 13 years, was revealed in January 2021. Suni added that Rana that he would be a part of the second instalment of the two-part series.[14] The supporting cast on the film included Balaji Manohar (to play a character named Hinnudi), P. Sai Kumar, Sudha Rani, Bhavya and Sadhu Kokila.[15][16]

Filming began on 17 February 2019.[9] In November that year, it was reported that Arjun Janya was signed in to score for the film. It was Suni's first collaboration with Janya. He stated that since he was making a "humourous [sic] film that also deals with black magic", it gave the makers "a lot of scope to work with the music theme, as well as the background scores and re-recording." He added, "Each character has a different music theme and we are experimenting with different genres for the same. There's everything from jazz to death metal."[17] The News Minute reported in April 2020 that a major portion of filming was completed "with just a song and fight sequences to be canned".[18] Lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant filming was stalled for a while. It was resumed in September 2020.[19] It completed on 21 September.[20]