Policing Kollywood: Meet the latest men and women in uniform on screen

As far as Kollywood is concerned, playing a cop is on the wish list of almost every actor. This year, quite a films with protagonists in the police force have been announced. While many are currently under production, a couple have hit screens this week. Here’s a look at these films...
Vishal - Ayogya
Vishal is no stranger to khaki, and he’s donned the uniform for the third time in Ayogya.This time around, there’s a twist — he plays a corrupt cop in this Tamil remake of the Telugu hit Temper. While his cop act in Sathyam and Paayum Puli won him accolades, can Vishal get the whistles this time, too?
Rajinikanth - Darbar
Thalaivar, whose career-defining film Moondru Mugam (1982) featured him as a police officer, is returning in the same avatar in AR Murgadoss’s Darbar, currently being shot in Mumbai. Rajini has previously played similar characters in Hum, Geraftaar, Ram Robert Rahim, Kodi Parakuthu and Nattuku Oru Nallavan. The Superstar is playing a cop after 25 years!
Vaibhav - Untitled project
After dabbling with horror, romance and comedy films, actor Vaibhav turns cop for the first time in Nitinsathyaa’s upcoming production, which is being directed by debutant SG Charles. The yet-to-be-titled film is a thriller, and Vaibhav’s character will have a tinge of negative shade, too.
Atharvaa - 100
Atharvaa has played a cop for the first time in this thriller. His character works in the police control room, a setting that we haven’t seen often in Tamil films. The actor’s only preparation for the role, he says, was to look fit and exude the confidence that a cop has.
Andrea - Maaligai
While she has played a spy in the Vishwaroopam films, Andrea will now be seen as a cop in Maaligai, which is being directed by popular Kannada filmmaker Dil Sathya. The film has a mix of action, horror and fantasy elements. Her
character goes to investigate in a palace that is believed to be haunted. The events that follow form the plot. Andrea will also be seen as a princess in it.
Varalaxmi - Danny
Varalaxmi plays a police inspector in this murder mystery, directed by Santhamoorthy, that happens in and around Thanjavur. The plot revolves around the emotional bonding between Varalaxmi’s character and that of Danny, a police dog, and how they team up and nab the people behind three murders in the district.
Gautham Karthik - Untitled project
Gautham Karthik will be seen in the role of an undercover cop in an adaptation of the Kannada action thriller Mufti, which will be directed by the original’s director Nathan. The story revolves around Gautham’s cop character who goes undercover to hunt down a do-gooder gangster, played by STR.
Arulnithi - Untitled project
After playing a comic cop in Naalu Perum Nalla Irundha Oorum and an alcoholic one in Aaradhu Sinam, Arulnithi will be donning khakhi again, this time, for Seenu Ramasamy’s investigative thriller. The actor will be playing a sub-inspector who is asked to investigate a crime. The film will go on floors in June, and will be shot in villages around Srivilliputhur.
Kasthuri - E P Co 302
Kasthuri will be seen as an IPS officer who is handling three cases simultaneously in E P Co 302, directed by Salangai Durai. One of the cases involves the murder of an anonymous man, another involves a couple who has eloped and taken refuge in her police station and the third, a gruesome murder.