Unfazed by the news of her split with her husband and filmmaker Vijay, actress Amala Paul has shifted all her focus to Dhanush-starrer Vada Chennai - a story about 30 years in the life of a gangster from north Madras in the 1970s.

Having joined the sets of the film on Friday, the Myna actress is learning to speak in coastal Tamil slang for her role. According to a source, unlike her regular heroine roles, this one will be a powerful character that’ll be remembered for a long time.

Being directed by national award-winning filmmaker Vetrimaaran, the film was originally supposed to feature Samantha. However, she chose to exit after she couldn’t adjust dates due to her impending rumoured marriage with Telugu star Naga Chaitanya. Amala was brought in as her replacement and she’ll be seen in all the three parts of the film.

Also starring Andrea Jeremiah, Vijay Sethupathi and Daniel Balaji, the film is tipped to be about prison politics.

(Content provided by Digital Native)