Dhanush resumes shooting of long-pending film Enai Nokki Paayum Thota, slated for February 2018 release

Actor Dhanush has resumed shooting the final schedule of director Gautham Menon’s long-pending romantic-action thriller Enai Nokki Paayum Thota in Chennai today, on 12 December. Dhanush, who was sporting an untamed moustache and beard in the past few months for national award-winning filmmaker Vetrimaaran’s Vada Chennai, has gone back to his clean-shaven look for ENPT now. The shooting is currently happening on the busy lanes of Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai. Gautham Menon, who escaped a dangerous accident by a whisker a few days back, is back on his feet, calling the shots for the film, which is jointly produced by his home banner Ondraga Entertainment and Madan’s Escape Artists Motion Pictures. [caption id=“attachment_4254849” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gautam Menon and Dhanush.[/caption] “Humbled by the concern and the wishes. A life-altering experience. I’m fine and waiting to start filming. Thank you, especially to Gopalakrishnan from HCL whose kindness last night to me reinstated my faith in people,” Menon, a few hours after the accident,  had tweeted. “There were certain issues between Dhanush and the makers. However, they had reconciled sometime back and agreed to wrap up the project in a single stretch. Since Dhanush was in his Vada Chennai getup, they had to wait for him. Now, the final leg of the shoot, including all patchwork portions, is planned to be completed before the end of December,” informs a source from the film’s unit. The principal shooting of Enai Nokki Paayum Thota commenced in March 2016 in the premises of SSN Engineering College, located on the outskirts of Chennai. Before the completion of the film, Gautham Menon moved on to kickstart his international spy thriller Dhruva Natchathiram, starring Vikram, in January 2017, and Dhanush proceeded to work on his respective commitments, for reasons best known to the team. Starring Megha Akash of Oru Pakka Kathai fame as the lead heroine, Enai Nokki Paayum Thota also features Rana Daggubati in a special cameo. Actress Sunainaa was also roped in for a brief role in the film, which has music composed by Darbuka Siva. The song Maruvaarthai Pesathey, which was released by the team without revealing the composer’s name, turned to be a sensational hit. “Since Dhanush was away for two to three months to shoot _Vada Chenna_i, I started working on Dhruva Natchathiram. He will be back soon, and we have some ten days of shooting left,” Menon had told Manorama last month in a video interview. The makers are now aiming for a release in February 2018, and if everything goes well as planned, Enai Nokki Paayum Thota will be Dhanush’s first release of 2018. Senthil Veersamy, a long-time associate of Gautham Menon and the producer of acclaimed film Raja Thandiram, will be seen locking horns with Dhanush as the baddie in his first full-fledged on-screen role. After wrapping up ENPT, Dhanush will move on to complete the remaining portions of his gangster saga Vada Chennai, which is jointly produced by Wunderbar Films and Lyca Productions. The film, which chronicles the life of a gangster over three decades, stars Aishwarya Rajesh and Andrea Jeremiah in pivotal roles. Samuthirakani, Daniel Balaji, Ameer, Kishore and Cheenu Mohan form the supporting cast. Dhanush is expected to start his home production Maari 2 in the first quarter of 2018. The movie is a sequel to his 2015 gangster-comedy Maari and will be directed by Balaji Mohan who helmed the first part. Sai Pallavi plays the female lead, and Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas will be pitted against Dhanush in the film. Dhanush’s upcoming slate also includes an untitled film with Thenandal Studios Ltd, the makers of Vijay’s blockbuster Mersal. He is also awaiting the release of his Hollywood debut The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir directed by Ken Scott. He co-stars with Oscar-nominated actress Berenice Bejo in this comedy-adventure, which was procured up by a slew of foreign distributors for various overseas regions in the American Film Market in October this year.