Titled Varma, the Tamil remake of last year’s path-breaking Telugu film Arjun Reddy, directed by Bala, marks the debut of Vikram’s son Dhruv, who will reprise Vijay Devarakonda’s role from the original.
Announced last November, the regular shooting of the film, according to reliable sources, began in Kathmandu, Nepal in March. After wrapping up the first schedule in Nepal, the team had to stop shooting due to Kollywood strike, courtesy a stand-off between digital service providers and Tamil film producers. Three months since the project went on the floors, the makers have finally found their leading lady after trying out several options.
According to a Times of India report, Bengali actor Megha Choudhary has been roped in to play the role originally played by Shalini Pandey. This project will mark Megha’s Tamil debut and apparently her expressive eyes caught the attention of Bala, who subsequently auditioned her and brought her on board.
Recently, there were reports that Shriya Sharma was signed as the leading lady. It turns out it was merely a rumour that was circulated by a section of media. Megha has already started shooting for the project.
Meanwhile, filmmaker Raju Murugan, known for helming films such as Cuckoo and Joker, has been signed to pen the dialogues. The project is being bankrolled by E4 Entertainment, producers of popular Malayalam films such as Ezra and Godha. Vikram had hinted in the past that his son will eventually follow in his footsteps. However, he wasn’t sure whether he’d be interested in acting or direction.
Last year, Dhruv directed a short film called Goodnight Charlie which was about child abuse within a family. When the film came out, many assumed that he has directorial dreams and would enter the industry as a director. It’s surprising that he has decided to don the greasepaint and it won’t be an easy debut considering the high expectations people will have on the remake, thanks to the popularity of the character Arjun Reddy, a contemporary take on Devdas, which explored love and suffering in the most hard-hitting fashion.