Nenjukku Needhi is the title of actor-politician Udhayanidhi Stalin’s upcoming Tamil film that will be directed by filmmaker Arunraja Kamaraj, the makers of the film announced on Saturday, while releasing the motion poster on social media.
The film is the official Tamil remake of the hit Hindi film Article 15, which starred Ayushmann Khurrana as a police officer.
The 2019 film was critically acclaimed for its hard-hitting commentary on caste-based discrimination. It deals with an officer who investigates the case of a missing Dalit girl in a remote, backward village after two Dalit girls are found hanging from a tree. While the film makes no direct reference to a specific incident, it is loosely based on the 2014 Badaun gang-rape case and the 2016 Una flogging incident.
While the original was directed by Anubhav Sinha, the Tamil remake will be helmed by Arunraja Kamaraj, the Tamil singer, lyricist and actor, marking his second directorial venture after the 2018 sports drama Kanaa.
Nenjukku Needhi is produced by Zee Studios and Boney Kapoor’s BayView Projects in association with Romeo Pictures.
In the remake, Udhayanidhi will step into the shoes of Khurrana. The other cast members include Aari, Tanya Ravichandran, Shivani Rajashekar, Yamini Chander, Suresh Chakravarthi, Ilavarasan, Mayilsamy, Abdool Lee, and Ratsasan Saravanan, among others.
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The technical crew of Nenjukku Needhi comprises cinematographer Dinesh Krishnan, music composer Dhibu Ninan Thomas, and editor Ruben. Arunraja Kamaraj has penned the film’s lyrics along with Yugabharathi.
Udhayanidhi, who made his electoral debut by contesting in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections, is currently the MLA of Chennai’s Chepauk constituency. Last seen in Psycho (2020), the actor-politician also has a film with director Magizh Thirumeni and Kannai Nambathey with filmmaker Maran in the pipeline.
His Red Giant Movies banner recently distributed the horror film Aranmanai 3, directed by Sundar C.