Vijay Sethupathi cast in director Arun Kumar's action thriller, has eight other projects post Kollywood strike

Tamil cinema’s busiest actor Vijay Sethupathi had a terrific run in 2017 with two hits (Kavan, Karuppan) and one blockbuster (Vikram Vedha). The versatile actor was also seen playing a special cameo in the comedy entertainer Kathanayagan but faced one failure in the form of his delayed release Puriyatha Puthir. [caption id=“attachment_4444965” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Vijay Sethupathi. Image from Twitter/@i_vijaysethu[/caption] Looking at Vijay Sethupathi’s lineup this year, the actor is fully occupied and juggling his dates with nearly eight films. Although his dark comedy film Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren was a damp squib at the box office, he continues to sign more projects. The latest update on Vijay Sethupathi is that he has inked the third deal with his Sethupathi and Pannaiyarum Padminiyum director Arun Kumar. Famous music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, who first agreed to produce Vijay Sethupathi’s Maamanidhan, was smitten by the script of the film. He has come forward to produce it with his partner Rajarajan, who had distributed Baahubali 2 in Tamil Nadu. Yuvan has also told Arun Kumar that he would like to compose music for the film. Actress Anjali, best known for her intense performances in films like Iraivi, Angadi Theru and Kattrathu Tamizh has been roped in to play Vijay Sethupathi’s pair in the film. “Arun Kumar had spent nearly two years writing this script. Chiyaan Vikram was the first choice for the film but due to various reasons, the director is once again teaming up with Vijay Sethupathi”, said a source close to the director. The yet-untitled action thriller will be predominantly shot in Malaysia and Arun Kumar has zeroed in on Tenkasi to shoot the village portions. Even before kick-starting the shoot, Sethupathi will join the sets of Maamanidhan which will have music composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, his dad Ilaiyaraaja and the veteran music composer’s elder son Karthik Raja. Besides Maamanidhan and the untitled action thriller with Arun Kumar, Sethupathi has recently completed an important schedule of Super Deluxe with National Award-winning director Thiagarajan Kumararaja of Aaranya Kaandam fame. In the film, Sethupathi plays a transgender named Shilpa, therefore, there are huge expectations from the actor and his look. Vijay has started shooting for Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vaanam and will also soon join the sets of Chiranjeevi’s magnum opus Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. The Rekka actor has completed 50 per cent of the feel-good drama 96 with Trisha Krishnan and in Seethakathi, he plays a veteran drama artist. However, Sethupathi’s next big release in Tamil would be his own production venture Junga, a comic caper in which the actor plays a hilarious gangster who secretly sketches a plan to kidnap the daughter of a powerful kingpin in Paris. Apart from Junga, Vijay Sethupathi is also producing an arthouse cinema titled Merku Thodarchi Malai with a bunch of newcomers. The film has been selected and screened at various film festivals including Toulouse Indian Film Festival, Singapore South Asian International Film Festival, Habitat Film Festival, New York Indian Film Festival and International Film Festival of Kerala. Touted to be an emotional drama about the landless labor class living on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Lenin Bharati is the director of Merku Thodarchi Malai. If all goes well, Sethupathi will have five releases this year including his two production ventures and he also scheduled three films to hit the screens in the first half of 2019.