Andhagan, the Tamil remake of the critically-acclaimed Hindi black-comedy crime thriller Andhadhun (2018), will star Priya Anand in the role played by Radhika Apte in the original, the makers of the film announced on social media on Thursday.
The film’s shooting started on March 10. Andhagan will star Prashanth in the role originally played by Ayushmann Khurrana. Simran will essay the role that Tabu played in the Hindi version and Karthik will play the role played by Anil Dhawan. Vanitha Vijayakumar will be portraying Ashwini Kalsekar’s role. Other members of the ensemble cast include Yogi Babu, Oorvasi, KS Ravikumar, and Manobala.
& it’s official! Happy to announce that @PriyaAnand is on board! @actorthiagaraja @Music_Santhosh #RaviYadhav @SimranbaggaOffc #karthik @iYogiBabu #KSRavikumar #Oorvasi @vanithavijayku1 @manobalam #LeelaSamson #Poovaiyaar #Andhagan #AndhadhunTamilremake #AndhadhunRemake pic.twitter.com/j1GBC6aHSu
— Prashanth (@actorprashanth) March 18, 2021
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Anand said that she has started shooting for the film in Chennai. “The film has got a good screenplay, one of the reasons why it is being remade in all the languages. We have a good cast and we are hoping to recreate the same magic,” she said.
The remake is directed by actor and Prashanth’s father Thiagarajan. It is also produced by him under his home banner Staar Movies Production.
Talking about how she came into the project, Anand said, “Thiagarajan sir has been a very supportive person. Every time a new film releases, he always gives his feedback and compliments to me. During the lockdown, we were in touch and used to discuss films and their technical sides casually. Then, he said that he doing the remake of the film and we used to talk casually about casting for the film. When he decided that he is going to direct, he asked me if I’d be interested and obviously, it is such a great film to be part of the film. I was excited.”
Asked if she took any reference from Apte’s performance, the actor said, “From Prashanth to everyone else, we are playing the same characters from the original. But Radhika and I are different persons. We are not trying to copy but keep the essence of the film. We are trying to bring something unique to the characters that we play. So, my version of the character and how I react to various situations would be unique.”
Speaking about the film’s shooting, Thiagarajan said that the team has been filming for the past 10 days in Chennai. “Our plan is to finish the shooting here by April-end and go to either London or other parts of Europe to shoot the climax. We are planning to release either by May-end or June. We have got a house in Chennai that resembles a middle-class home and we are shooting there. Most of the shots would be in various natural locations.”
Endless chats and fun on the sets of #Andhagan with @actorprashanth#AndhadhunRemake pic.twitter.com/kN3ICTHOE5
— Simran (@SimranbaggaOffc) March 17, 2021
The filmmaker also informed that all the leads are currently shooting and it will be a long schedule.
While the music will be composed by Santhosh Narayanan, the technical crew consists of Ravi Yadhav as the cinematographer and Senthil Raghavan as the art director. Uthara Menon will be designing the costumes.
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Directed by Sriram Raghavan, Andhadhun revolves around a pianist who pretends to be visually impaired. He ends up witnessing a murder and soon becomes entangled in a complicated web of lies. The film won three National Film Awards in 2019- Best Feature Film in Hindi, Best Actor for Khurrana, and Best Screenplay.
Andhadhun is also being remade in Telugu with Nithiin Reddy, Nabha Natesh, and Tamannaah Bhatia, and in Malayalam as Bhramam with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Raashi Khanna in the lead roles.