Actor Vijay and filmmaker AR Murugadoss, who have worked together in films such as Thuppakki, Kaththi and most recently Sarkar, are all set to reunite for the fourth time for a project currently dubbed Thalapathy 65. Reports have emerged that Sun Pictures will bankroll the project and an official agreement was signed on Tuesday. An official announcement can be expected to be made very soon, as per reliable sources.
Two other filmmakers were in talks for teaming up with Vijay next. As per reports, Sudha Kongara and Ajay Gnanamuthu were two other directors who were most likely to be signed. However, Murugadoss, whose last outing Sarkar with Vijay didn’t do as expected at the box-office, has been handed over the baton once again to deliver a blockbuster. If everything goes as planned, Thalapathy 65 will go on the floors later this year depending on the lockdown. Otherwise, the shooting will be pushed to next year and the makers will prefer to have a soft launch this year.
Rumours are rife that Vijay is getting paid a whopping Rs 100 crore for this project. Sun Pictures, according to sources, has already paid the actor Rs 50 crore advance and has locked his dates for the shoot. This will be their second venture with Vijay after Sarkar.
Murugadoss’s last film was Rajinikanth starrer Darbar, which turned out to be a box-office dud. Darbar featured Rajinikanth in the role of an angry police officer who was out to avenge the death of his daughter. The film, which was released amid much hype, failed to click at the box-office, and this adds a lot of pressure on Murugadoss to deliver his next film at any cost.
Meanwhile, Vijay currently awaits the release of Master, which was due for release in April but had to be postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Master features Vijay in the role of a college professor and will have a college backdrop for most part of its story. It’ll be the first time Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi will be seen sharing screen space. The regular shooting of the film commenced last year and shot without a big break in 129 days.
Master features Vijay Sethupathi as the antagonist. Malavika Mohanan, who made her Tamil debut in Rajinikanth’s Petta, plays the leading lady. The film also stars Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Arjun Das and Andrea Jeremiah in key roles.
Vijay was last seen on screen in Atlee directed Bigil in dual roles. He was seen playing father as well as the son and both the characters were extremely well received. Bigil, which also starred Jackie Shroff and Nayanthara, went on to mint over Rs 300 crore at the box-office. It emerged as the highest grossing Tamil film of 2019.
(Content provided by Digital Native)