Thalli Pogathey, the upcoming Tamil film starring actors Atharvaa Murali and Anupama Parameswaran in the lead roles, is set to release theatrically soon, the makers of the film announced on social media on Friday.
The film, directed and produced by filmmaker R Kannan, under his production banner Masala Pix, is the official remake of the Telugu romantic comedy-drama Ninnu Kori.
The Telugu film starred actors Nani, Aadhi Pinisetty, and Nivetha Thomas in the lead roles. The story revolves around Pallavi (Nivetha) who declines Uma’s (Nani) proposal to elope and gets married to Arun (Pinisetty). However, after the married couple settles in the US, Uma, who is still in love with Pallavi, goes in search of her to the US to try and win her back. The 2017 film marked the directorial debut of Shiva Nirvana.
Atharvaa reprises Nani’s role and Anupama steps into the shoes of Nivetha in Thalli Pogathey. Amithash Pradhan takes up Pinisetty’s character in the remake.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, director Kannan says, “In this story, the female character is pivotal and Anupama was our first choice. Atharva and I have worked together before in Boomerang, and we have a good rapport, so he was a natural choice. In fact, all of them were our first choices for their respective roles.”
On choosing to remake Ninnu Kori, the filmmaker says, “The script is very good and the film became a commercial success. It is on the lines of films like 96 and Mouna Raagam, with a compelling story and nostalgic moments. After watching the film, we thought it would be nice to present it to the Tamil audience. We immediately got the remake rights and began to shoot the film.”
Kannan, who has helmed other remakes in the past, including Kanden Kadhalai (Jab We Met) and Settai (Delhi Belly), notes that Thalli Pogathey is not a frame-by-frame remake. “We have used only the idea and tweaked the story to suit our audience.”
The filmmaker, who is also working on the remake of the hit 1972 Tamil caper comedy film Kasethan Kadavulada, feels original scripts are easier to work on than remakes. “Remakes are quite hard to do since there will be many expectations to meet. I have made about seven films based on my own scripts, which I found easy because I was more confident. There will be a lot of comparisons in the case of remakes, and the challenge is to make it better than the original.”
Thalli Pogathey was shot in late 2020 in the span of a couple of months. While the original is set in the US, the Tamil version was shot completely in Russia, by cinematographer N Shanmuga Sundaram.
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Edited by RK Selva, the film has a runtime of two hours and 10 minutes. It has been certified U/A.
Gopi Sundar has composed the music for Thalli Pogathey, which features four songs.
Kannan confirms that both Thalli Pogathey and Kasethan Kadavulada will be released on OTT platforms after their theatrical runs.
He also reveals that Kasethan Kadavulada has been wrapped up and the team is looking for a Diwali release in theatres this November.
Kannan is also working on yet another remake. He is helming the Tamil remake of the Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen, with Aishwarya Rajesh playing the lead.