Jagame Thandhiram, the upcoming Tamil film starring Dhanush in the lead, was initially titled Suruli, after Dhanush’s character in the film, revealed director Karthik Subbaraj, during an interaction on Twitter Spaces. Karthik said he came up with the final title only after shooting the film.
“We thought of a title only after we completed shooting for this film. The working title was Suruli till then. However, I wanted the title to convey a story rather than just carry the name of the protagonist. That’s when I listened to Thalaivar’s [Rajinikanth] song, Jagame Thandhiram from Ninaithale Inikkum and the word felt relatable,” Karthik said.
Hosted by standup comic Alexander Babu, the interaction was also attended by music composer Santhosh Narayanan, Dhanush, lyricists Vivek and Anthony Dasan, singer Dhee and rapper Arivu.
Dhanush admitted that he was disappointed when Karthik changed the title. “I really liked the working title as it was very quirky. But when I saw the film, I realised the film is much more than that. It is not just a mass masala film. It talks of a bigger issue,” he said.
Initially supposed to release in theatres, Jagame Thandhiram will premiere on June 18 on Netflix. Expressing his disappointment over the direct-to-OTT release, Dhanush said, “I am excited that after a long wait, the film is going to reach the audience. It would have been better if we could have released the film in a better circumstance and time. At the same time I am happy that the film can be a stress-buster for people during the lockdown.”
Due to the film’s OTT release, not all the songs that were released on Monday will feature in the film. Karthik said only five of the eight songs that were released will feature in the Netflix version. “Since we are watching it continuously on Netflix without any interval blocks, a song may break the flow of the story. We took a collective decision and removed a few songs from the final cut,” he said.
Karthik added that the film would release on Vijay TV soon. The television version would feature all eight songs, he said.
Talking about his character, Dhanush said that Suruli was one of his favourite characters he has played and added that he has been asking Karthik to make a sequel. He said Suruli contains shades of Rajinikanth.
According to the press release issued by Netflix India, Jagame Thandhiram narrates the story of Suruli (Dhanush), a nomadic gangster who has to choose between good and evil in a war for what one can truly call home.
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Dhanush will be starring opposite Aishwarya Lekshmi and Scottish film and television actor James Cosmo, best known for the hit television series Game Of Thrones. The film also features Kalaiyarasan and Joju George in pivotal roles. The film is produced by S Sashikanth under his YNot Studios banner along with Reliance Entertainment while Santhosh Narayanan composed the music.
Asked about venturing into writing scripts and directing a film, Dhanush revealed that he had written a script some time back but did not get time to work on it.
“I have gotten an opportunity to work with good directors, including Karthik, Mari Selvaraj and Ram. I want to make use of it right now. I have even met a couple of young, new talents who are very promising. The announcements will come at the right time,” he said.