After two successful outings – Theri and Mersal – Vijay and director Atlee have joined hands for the third time in a project currently dubbed as Thalapathy 63. The film, being produced by AGS Entertainment, was officially launched last November in Chennai. The film had a soft launch in the presence of Vijay, Atlee and the makers of the film with the regular shooting commencing last month. The project, which stars Nayanthara as the leading lady, also marks the third consecutive collaboration of AR Rahman and Vijay after Mersal and Sarkar.

Tipped to be a sports-based drama, it is rumoured that the film will feature Vijay in the role of a football coach. The team is currently busy with the film’s shooting and the latest news is that for the opening song the actor will dance with a hundred children. The actor has previously shaken a leg with child dancers for songs such as ‘Jithu Jilladi’ in ‘Theri’ and ‘Mersal Arasan’ in ‘Mersal’ under Atlee’s direction.

The industry grapevine is that Vijay plays a character called Michael, but neither the makers nor Atlee have confirmed the news. Apparently, Vijay was recently trained by a specialist physical trainer to prepare for his role, and 16 women will star as sports players in the film, which also stars Kathir, Yogi Babu and Vivek in crucial roles. It has already been confirmed that the film will hit the screens for Deepavali this year.

Last week, in an interview to Indiaglitz, Rahman hinted that Thalapathy 63 is a sports film. “I have done this genre in Hollywood but this would be the first time in south India. Atlee is a fan of my films like Lagaan and Pele. He’s heard these soundtracks and he is musically very passionate. I enjoy working with such directors who gets involved in music composing.”

AGS Entertainment had said in a statement that the film will be a pucca mass entertainer and will deal with a genre that will be a first-of-its-kind for Vijay.

(Content provided by Digital Native)