Men clad in loincloths are at war, hurling spears and daggers at each other in the teaser of Pa Ranjith's new film Thangalaan. Actor Vikram leading the pack of men looks raw in his golden brown dreadlocks and unreadable face. A menacing music plays over the visuals, often bloody and savage. There are no dialogues in the teaser, only a few texts flickering by: A myth leads to history, as greed leads to destruction, as blood wars lead to liberty, rises the son of gold.
Pa Ranjith, who has directed the much-awaited film, has written it with Tamil Prabha. The two had earlier written the acclaimed film Sarpatta Parambarai together. Thangalaan is produced by KE Gnanavelraja with Neha Gnanavelraja under the banner of Studio Green and Ranjith’s Neelam Productions.
The film's cast also includes actors Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan, Daniel Caltagirone and Pasupathy. Thangalaan will be released in five languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.
Watch: Teaser of the film
Sources at Neelam, Pa Ranjith’s production house, had earlier told TNM that the film is set in the 19th century and will be about the lives of the Poorvakudi (indigenous) people who worked in the Kolar gold mines of Karnataka. Snapshots of Britishmen in the teaser suggest that the story is set in a colonial era.
GV Prakash has composed the music for Thangalaan. A Kishore Kumar has done the cinematography and Selva RK the editing. SS Murthi is the art director.
Vikram's last release was the period drama Ponniyin Selvan-II directed by Mani Ratnam. His next release is expected to be Gautam Menon's Dhruva Natchathiram, to come out later this month.