Thalapathy 64: Vijay Sethupathi confirmed to lock horns with Vijay; Malavika Mohanan on board

In the last few years, Thalapathy Vijay has started shooting his new films only after the release of his ongoing project. But for a change, the Thalapathy will be moving on to his next film, fondly called by fans as Thalapathy 64, with Lokesh Kanagaraj of Maanagaram fame — even before the release of his massively scaled sports drama Bigil, which is all set for a Diwali showdown.What has made Thalapathy 64 bigger than what it actually was is the latest addition of Vijay Sethupathi, who will be essaying the role of the antagonist in the film. Though there were confusions at first with respect to the Vikram Vedha actor adjusting his dates, an official announcement was made by the team on Monday. Thalapathy 64 will officially be the third film where Vijay Sethupathi gets to share screen space with a huge star, as he has already been a part of Superstar Rajinikanth’s Petta which released for Pongal 2019 and Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, which is gearing up for a grand release on 2 October.The shoot for Thalapathy 64 is expected to go on floors on 3 October with a formal pooja in Chennai. Vijay, who is currently holidaying at an undisclosed location, will be back in Chennai in time for the shoot. Sources say the team might shoot for a day or two and kickstart the full-fledged schedule from the second week of October. While Sathyan Sooryan of Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru fame will be handling the camera, composer Anirudh Ravichander will be returning to score for a Vijay film after the chartbuster album in Kaththi.In an interesting turn of events, the recent online sensation Malavika Mohanan, who played a brief role in Rajinikanth's Petta, has been brought on board the project, replacing the Bollywood damsel Kiara Advani. "Thalapathy 64 initially had space for two heroines, but it has now been zeroed down to just one. Malavika will be allocating close to ten days for her portions in the film. On the other side, the casting process for the film has already been put in place with many prominent names from the YouTube community," informs a source privy to the development.Thalapathy 64 will be shot at many locations across Chennai and Allahabad. A major portion of the film will be shot at a hostel in Allahabad. Going by their current plan, the entire movie will be wrapped up by January 2020, with the worldwide release to take place during the summer holidays in April. Lokesh Kanagaraj has planned for 70 days of shooting and nearly 30 days will be shot in Allahabad. Producer Xavier Britto, who had produced Vijay’s initial films like Rasigan and Sendhoorapandi, is bankrolling the project.Both Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj are now looking forward to the release of their respective next films in Bigil and Kaithi, both of which will be locking horns at the box office for Diwali in October. Bigil marks the third time collaboration of Vijay and director Atlee, who have together delivered blockbusters such as Theri and Mersal previously. On the lines of Chak De India, Bigil revolves around the story of a footballer from a downtrodden community in Chennai, going on to become the coach of the women’s football team of Tamil Nadu. The film stars Vijay, Nayanthara, Vivek, Yogi Babu, Jackie Shroff, Indhuja, Reba Monica John, Amrita Aiyer among others in the cast. The music is composed by AR Rahman, while the cinematography is handled by GK Vishnu, who joined hands with Atlee in their last film Mersal.On the other hand, Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Kaithi is a film that chronicles the events that take place over the course of a single night. The film has Karthi in the lead and also features some well-known actors such as Narain and Ramana in essential roles.