The Vijay-AR Murugadoss flick finally has a title. After several titles being proposed over the past few months, the Thupakki filmmaker has zeroed in on the name Kaththi. Murugadoss made the announcement on his Twitter account. Initially, the team had almost decided on the title Vaal (sword), before everyone decided on Kaththi. Said a source close to the production unit, “Unlike most other films where the decision for a title can be easily taken, there is a lot of pressure when an actor like Vijay is involved, because of the number of fans and their expectations. So, the producer and the director went over several names and only after a consensus was arrived at with the crew and Vijay himself, was the title fixed as Kaththi. It is a mass title for a mass film.”
After the success of Thupakki in 2012, the director and actor decided to work together after Vijay dispensed with Thalaivaa and Jilla. Shooting began a few months ago in Kolkata and proceeded at a brisk pace, before schedules were completed in Chennai and Hyderabad — where the cast and crew are currently wrapping up.
Vijay himself is riding a wave after the stupendous success of Jilla and immense expectations from trade circuits over this film with the same successful team that brought Thupakki. Samantha plays the female lead and Neil Nitin Mukesh is making his Kollywood debut in a negative role. While Anirudh is scoring the music, the lyrics are being penned by Madhan Karky. The film’s teaser is scheduled to be out on April 14.
The film has seen several changes in the last few months. Initially, Harris Jayaraj was roped in for the film, but later he was replaced by Anirudh. For his part, Anirudh is now composing the second half of Kaththi’s music and will be targetting an audio release before July. Similarly, Bengali actor Tota Roy Chowdhury was signed on to play the role of an international gangster named Vivek Banerjee. before being replaced by Mukesh.
Kaththi that is being produced by Lyca Productions and Ayngaran International is scheduled for a Deepavali release.