Soorpanagai (Ne Ne Naa in Telugu), the upcoming Tamil-Telugu bilingual film starring actor Regina Cassandra in the lead role, is in the final stages of post-production, says the film’s director Caarthick Raju, in a conversation with Silverscreen India.
“Only some 20 days of work is pending,” the director adds.
The makers released a poster of the film on social media on Wednesday, and announced that the trailer will be released soon. The bilingual is backed by Raj Shekar Varma under the Apple Trees Studios banner.
Caarthick Raju, who has also written the script for the film, says, “It is a horror-thriller and it revolves around an archaeologist who discovers a skeleton in a quicksand area. The problem she faces with the excavation sets the rest of the story in motion.”
Regina essays the role of the archaeologist in the bilingual and the director says she was the first choice for the film.
“I previously made a Telugu film called Ninu Veedani Needanu Nene (2019). After its release, the producer of Soorpanagai approached me to do a film. I had a handful of scripts and chose to go with this female-centric, archaeological story since it is an interesting one,” says Caarthick.
“Ninu Veedani Needanu Nene is also made in Tamil as Kannadi, though it hasn’t released yet, and we thought of going with a bilingual once again. Also, Regina has good reach among both the audiences,” the filmmaker adds.
While Mansoor Ali Khan stars in the Tamil version, Vennela Kishore will essay the character in Telugu.
The Tamil title refers to the mythological character, who is the sister of demon king Ravana. “She is often referred to as a brutal character, but there is love within her too. She is a mix of both extremes of love and anger. These characteristics are also reflected in the lead character,” says the director.
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He also reveals that the film has a segment of about 30 minutes set in the 1920s.
With cinematography by Gokul Benoy, the film has been shot in Courtallam, Chennai, and Acchan Kovil forests in Kerala. It was simultaneously shot in both languages.
Sam CS has composed music for both languages, and the film features two songs, with lyrics by Sam in Tamil and Ramajogayya Sastry in Telugu.
The Tamil film’s runtime is two hours and eight minutes, while the Telugu version will be 10 minutes longer, says the director. Both versions are yet to be certified.
The team is looking forward to a theatrical release. “In Telangana, theatres have been reopened and are doing well. And it is being said that theatres will reopen in Tamil Nadu shortly, so it is going to be a confirmed theatrical release,” adds the filmmaker.