Director John Mahendran, son of late director Mahendran, is said to have been approached to be part of AR Murugadoss’ upcoming film with Rajinikanth, Darbar. John Mahendran had previously directed Vijay in Sachein.
Reports suggesting John Mahendran’s participation in the scripting parts, as well as the acting department, emerged yesterday. Talking to Silverscreen, the official spokesperson for the movie said “No official information in this regard has come about.”
Earlier today, reports emerged that Prateik Babbar, the son of actor-politician Raj Babbar and late actress Smita Patil’s son, has been signed on to play the antagonist in the film. The reports quoted a statement that he reportedly released. Some days ago, it was said that SJ Suryah would bag the role. However, the official spokesperson said that while some actors have been approached, no names have been finalised as yet. Prateik was recently seen in Amazon Prime’s original series ‘Four More Shots Please’ .
John Mahendran’s last directing credit came in 2007 with the war drama Aanivaer. However, he has written the screenplay or dialogues, if not both, for films such as Settai, Kashmora and Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva.
His father and renowned director J Mahendran passed away on April 2 following kidney failure. The director, best known for films such as Mullum Malarum, Uthiri Pookal and Johnny was 79.
Darbar, Rajinikanth’s 167th film, features the actor in the role of a cop. The makers began shooting in Mumbai on April 10, and the movie is scheduled for a 2020 release. The first look poster of the film was released earlier this month.
Here We Go! #Thalaivar167 #Darbar@rajinikanth @ARMurugadoss #Nayanthara @anirudhofficial @santoshsivan @sreekar_prasad pic.twitter.com/cjmy4gQJjy
— Lyca Productions (@LycaProductions) April 9, 2019
Rumours suggest that the actor may play a double role – a father and son in the movie. Nayanthara, who has worked with Rajinikanth in films like Chandramukhi and Kuselan plays the female lead in the movie. Talks are on with Nivetha Thomas to play Rajini’s daughter in the movie.
Cinematographer Santosh Sivan will be working with Rajinikanth 27 years after Thalapathy. The music is by Anirudh Ravichander. Sreekar Prasad is the editor, T Santhanam the art director, and Ram-Lakshman are the stunt directors. The film is being bankrolled by Lyca Productions, the producers of 2.0.
Image Courtesy: FilmiBeat Tamil
