Vijay Sethupathi will play antagonist in Rajinikanth's next with Karthik Subbaraj; film to start shoot in June

Vijay Sethupathi is one of the finest actors in Tamil cinema today. Last year, he was on a career high with hits such as Kavan, Vikram Vedha and Karuppan. In Madhavan starrer Vikram Vedha, he didn’t mind playing a negative role – a dread gangster – which was extremely well received by audiences and critics alike. And now, with nearly half a dozen projects in his kitty currently, it was officially announced on 26 April that he will team up with superstar Rajinikanth for the first time. Sun Pictures, the makers of the film, made the announcement via a tweet. This news comes weeks after reports emerged that Sethupathi is most likely to play the antagonist in Rajinikanth-Subbaraj film.

We are happy to announce that for the first time, Vijay Sethupathi will be acting with Superstar Rajini in #SuperstarWithSunPictures. #VijaySethupathiWithSuperstar pic.twitter.com/RZnt6ClGjm

— Sun Pictures (@sunpictures) April 26, 2018

“Subbaraj had Sethupathi in mind even before Rajini sir came on board. After being impressed with his work in Vikram Vedha, he felt Sethupathi would be the perfect choice to play the baddie in his film. You definitely can’t expect him to play a typical villain,” a source told Firstpost, adding that the film will go on the floors from June. On the acting front, Sethupathi is looking forward to the release of Tamil gangster comedy Junga, which he has produced on a high budget. One of Sethupathi’s most awaited releases this year happens to be national award-winning director Thiyagarajan Kumararaja’s upcoming thriller Super Deluxe. He’s rumoured to be playing a cross-dresser in the film. He also has projects such as 96, Maamanidhan and Seethakathi among others in the offing. [caption id=“attachment_4292427” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Vijay Sethupathi in a still from Vikram Vedha. YouTube[/caption] In Seethakathi, he plays a septuagenarian character and in Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, he will be seen playing a cop. Sethupathi also makes his Telugu debut this year with Chiranjeevi’s Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, andf will be seen playing a role called Obayya, a right-hand man of Kurnool-based freedom fighter Uyyalawada Narsimha Reddy, to be played by Chiranjeevi. Vijay Sethupathi is said to have honed his Telugu speaking ability to be able to do justice to his role. In fact, he played a character that spoke sporadic Telugu in his latest release Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren. Rajinikanth, on the other hand, currently awaits the release of Kaala, which has been directed by Pa. Ranjith and it’s his second time collaboration with the superstar after Kabali. The film, confirmed to hit the screens on 7 June, is believed to revolve around the lives of oppressed Tamils in Mumbai and their fight for equality. Produced by Dhanush, Kaala also stars Nana Patekar, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, Huma Qureshi and Samuthirakani in pivotal roles. It will have a simultaneous release in Telugu along with the Tamil version. Shankar’s 2.0, a sequel to Enthiran, is also in the pipeline and it’s most likely to hit the screens next year. The release of the magnum opus, rumoured to be made on a lavish budget of Rs 450 crore, has been deferred multiple times so far owing to high VFX work.