As Kollywood strike ends, Suriya's NGK, Vijay's Thalapathy 62, Ajith's Viswasam resume shoots

Tamil film industry is limping back to normalcy after being shut down for 45 days, courtesy a stand-off between Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) and Digital Service Providers over exorbitant rates charged as Visual Print Fee (VPF), which is the amount paid for presentation of a feature film via digital projection. [caption id=“attachment_4424669” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Mercury/image from YouTube.[/caption] Kollywood had its first release since the shutdown on 20 April as Karthik Subbaraj’s silent thriller Mercury hit the screens. Following the withdrawal of the strike after achieving an amicable solution, several film producers are desperate to commence work on their projects that were stalled. On 21 April, the team of Suriya’s NGK went back to the sets. Actress Rakul Preet Singh confirmed the news via a tweet.

And !!! Tadaaaaaaa Day 1 #NGK @Suriya_offl @selvaraghavan ❤️ #letsdothis

— Rakul Singh (@Rakulpreet) April 21, 2018

Tipped to be an action thriller, the project marks the first time collaboration of Suriya with Selvaraghavan, known for films such as Kadhal Kondein and Pudhupettai.  Being produced by Dream Warrior Pictures, the film also stars Sai Pallavi as one of the leading ladies. Being announced as a Diwali release, the team has already wrapped up the first schedule of the film in Chennai. “The shoot is currently underway in the Ambasamudram town set the makers built on a budget of Rs 3 crore. Despite the strike, the team is on track for Diwali release. In the latest schedule, scenes between Suriya and Rakul will be shot,” a source told Firstpost, confirming that Sai Pallavi and the rest of the supporting cast are also expected to join the sets next week. Meanwhile, the makers of Thalapathy 62, which marks the third time reunion of Vijay and AR Murugadoss after Thuppakki and Kaththi, is rumoured to commence shoot from 25 April. The team has so far shot two schedules in Chennai and Kolkata. “Plans are being made to start shooting from 25 April. As the makers have already locked Diwali as release date, they can’t further delay the shoot as it also affects the dates of the actors,” a source said. In this project, Keerthy Suresh teams up with Vijay for the second time after last year’s Bairavaa. Double Oscar-winning AR Rahman has been roped in compose music. Girish Gangadharan, the young lensman whose recent work includes Kali and Solo, has been signed on for the project, while editor Sreekar Prasad, who has worked with Murugadoss in projects such as Thuppakki and Spyder, is also part of the film.   There are also reports that Ajith’s highly anticipated film Viswasam, his fourth outing with director Siva, is expected to finally start rolling in a couple of weeks. The project was supposed to go on the floors in March but the shoot had to be postponed owing to the strike. “The team has erected a set in Hyderabad’s Ramoji Film City and they’re hopeful of starting by second week of May,” a source said, confirming that the project will be shot on a rural backdrop. “Just like Veeram, this project will also be a rural entertainer. It was at the behest of  Ajith, following the debacle of Vivegam, Siva went back to write a rural-based script. Siva had plans to work with someone else and then come back to join hands with Ajith but the Vedalam star was hell-bent on working again immediately to bounce back strongly with another successful outing.” To be produced by Sathya Jyothi Films, Nayanthara has been finalised as the leading lady. D Imman has been roped in to compose music. The rest of the cast and crew will be officially announced soon.