Lyca bags another biggie, likely to distribute Rajinikanth's ‘Kaala’

If the industry grapevine is anything to go by, superstar Rajinikanth's Kaala, in which he plays a slum lord turned gangster, will be distributed by Lyca Productions worldwide. Produced by Dhanush, the film marks the reunion of Rajinikanth and director Pa. Ranjith after last year's Kabali.

Apparently, Lyca has come on board as they've already snapped the rights of Dhanush's Vada Chennai and it was the latter’s idea to have them distribute Kaala as they can ensure the film a wide release. Lyca is the producer of Shankar's Rs. 400 crore magnum opus 2.0 and they recently took over the reins of Indian 2 as well. 

It has been learnt that Kaala will hit the screens next April, and it will apparently have a very strong political angle and will address the issue of oppressed Tamils. According to a report by Mumbai Mirror, director Pa. Ranjith, while addressing a gathering in Madurai recently, revealed that Kaala has a political reference and confirmed that they’re planning to get the film to theatres in April 2018. The film is tipped to be made as a Tamil-Hindi bilingual and will also be dubbed in Telugu. Santhosh Narayanan is scoring the music, while national award-winning Sreekar Prasad will take care of editing.   

Since the film has been mostly shot against the backdrop of Mumbai, the makers have decided to simultaneously shoot the film in Hindi. If not every scene, those featuring Rajinikanth and some of the key supporting cast will be shot in Hindi. Unlike Kabali, the film won’t be dubbed in Hindi, and Rajinikanth is expected to mouth his lines in Hindi and in Marathi at some key junctures. Besides starring Nana Patekar as a politician and Pankaj Tripathi as a cop, the film also features Anjali Patil, Huma Qureshi and Samuthirakani.