Shankar is one of the most popular Indian directors, whose latest film, Indian 2, was released worldwide on July 12. Ahead of the release of Indian 2, Shankar opened up about his other much-awaited project.
Shankar revealed that he is working on a film based on Velpari. He was attracted to the novel when he read it during the Covid-19 lockdown. So, he decided to make a film about it. He has already completed the conversion of the novel into a screenplay.
Shankar has not yet decided when he will take up the project as he is currently focused on completing Indian 3 and Game Changer. So, the director’s historical project might take some time and we will have to wait and see which actor will join him for the film. According to reports, it will be made on a budget of Rs 1000 crore.
Earlier, the names of Rajinikanth, Chiyaan Vikram and Suriya were suggested as the leads, but the director has not yet finalised a lead actor.
Written by Su Venkatesan, Velpari delves into the mysteries of why the Chera, Chola and Pandyan triads waged a war against the small country of Pari Vallal’s Parambu. Besides, the peculiarities of Pari Vallal and why living in Parambu is such a big deal are other important aspects of the novel.
There are rumours Shankar to cast Shah Rukh Khan in this film. Previously, the director had offered the iconic role of Chitti in Robot, played by Rajinikanth, to the Bollywood actor. Due to creative issues, the project was dropped.
Following the success of Shivaji, Shankar revisited the project and approached Rajinikanth, ultimately casting him in the lead role. The film turned out to be the highest-grossing Tamil film of that time. The sequel of the movie, 2.0, also turned out to be a huge success at the box office.
In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, director Shankar hinted at the possibility of future collaborations with Shah Rukh. Reflecting on the past interactions, he revealed that they had met several times for a film but for various reasons, things didn’t align.
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