Shoot begins for Sivakarthikeyan, Rakul Preet's sci-fi film; Isha Kopikkar returns to Tamil cinema after 17 years

Sivakarthikeyan’s untitled sci-fi film with director Ravi Kumar of Indru Netru Naalai fame started rolling from Wednesday. A pooja was conducted for the film with the entire cast and crew in attendance. Rakul Preet Singh plays the lead heroine in the movie, which is produced by RD Raja’s 24AM Studios as a bi-lingual project in Tamil and Telugu. Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman has been signed to score the music for the film. Nirav Shah, who has worked in Shankar - Rajinikanth’s 2.0, has been roped in to handle the film’s cinematography. Concept artist Vishwanath Sundaram of Baahubali fame, art director Muthuraj (Mersal, Velaikkaran), editor Leo John Paul, costume stylist Pallavi Singh, stunt choreographer duo Anbariv and poster designer Gopi Prasanna (Sarkar, Kaththi) form the film’s technical crew. [caption id=“attachment_4621401” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] A pooja was conducted for the film with the entire cast and crew in attendance.[/caption] The project also marks the return of popular Bollywood actress Isha Kopikkar to Tamil cinema in an important role after 17 years. Best known to Tamil moviegoers for playing Vijay’s romantic interest in Nenjinile, Isha was last seen in Vijayakanth’s Narasimha. Bhanupriya, Yogi Babu, and Karunakaran play other supporting roles in the film. Sivakarthikeyan will shoot for the Ravi Kumar film and director Rajesh’s untitled comedy entertainer simultaneously once the latter goes on floors in a few weeks. In a chat with FirstPost earlier,  Rajesh  said, “It will be a complete family entertainer. Although the writing is in my style, there will be exciting variations in the script. Since Sivakarthikeyan has a large fan base in family audiences and kids, there would be elements to attract them too. And, there won’t be any smoking or drinking scenes. I have avoided all such scenes in the script and focused more on delivering a wholesome entertainer to audiences.” While Ravi Kumar’s ambitious film marks Sivakarthikeyan’s first-time collaboration with Rakul Preet, his untitled movie with Rajesh marks his second association with Nayanthara after Boss Engira Baskaran. The pre-production of Rajesh’s yet-to-be-titled film, which is produced by KE Gnanavel Raja’s Studio Green, is currently in the final stages of pre-production. [caption id=“attachment_4621431” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Sivakarthikeyan performs a pooja ahead of the film’s shooting[/caption] Meanwhile, Sivakarthikeyan is gearing up for the release of his next project Seema Raja on 13 September for the Ganesh Chaturthi weekend. Produced by 24AM Studios, Seema Raja marks Siva’s third film with director Ponram after two super-hits in Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangal and Rajini Murugan. Samantha Ruth Prabhu plays the lead heroine in the film and yesteryear heartthrob Simran plays the antagonist character. The shooting has been wrapped up and the film has entered the post-production phase. The business for _Seema Raja’_s overseas distribution has already begun. Woodside Cinemas has secured the Canada rights and Nass Lanka Holding has acquired Sri Lanka rights. The Singapore and Gulf rights have been procured by Home Screen Entertainment. Keerthy Suresh appears in a guest role in the film, which also stars Soori and Napoleon in important roles. D. Imman has composed the music for the film.