‘Sarkar’ first look to ‘NGK’ Diwali release: Weekend round-up of top stories in Tamil cinema

The past week has been nothing short of an eventful week for Tamil cinema. From ‘Sarkar’ first look to Shruti Haasan turning a producer for ‘The Mosquito Philosophy’, several announcements, here are the top stories that did the rounds this past week.

This Diwali is going to be battle of stars. Selvaraghavan confirmed that the political drama ‘NGK’, starring Suriya, will also hit theatre screens on the auspicious festival. The news came after AR Murugadoss announced that the Vijay-starrer ‘Sarkar’ would hit theatre screens on Diwali. If reports are anything to go by, both Suriya’s ‘NGK’ and Vijay’s ‘Sarkar’ will be clashing at the box office. The makers of ‘NGK’ are currently wrapping up the film and are expected to complete the shoot by the end of this month. Produced by Dream Warrior Pictures, the film stars Sai Pallavi and Rakul Preet Singh as the leading ladies. Yuvan Shankar Raja is in charge of the music.

Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu was all praise for the cyber-crime thriller ‘Irumbu Thirai’, starring Vishal. Apparently, Mahesh watched the Telugu dubbed version titled ‘Abhimanyudu’ and loved it. Taking to his Twitter handle, the star wrote, “Very impressed with Abhimanyudu. The vision & direction of @Psmithran is skilfully conveyed... A well-researched and fast-paced film... Hearty congratulations to @VishalKOfficial and the entire team!”

Thanking the superstar for the encouraging words, both Vijay and director PS Mithran were quick to reply to his tweet. Also starring Samantha Akkineni and Arjun Sarja in lead roles, 'Abhimanyudu’ is touted to be one of Vishal's biggest hit till date.

After proving her mettle in acting and signing, Shruti Haasan will soon be making her debut production venture and will be bankrolling ‘The Mosquito Philosophy’, to be directed by Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan of ‘Lens’ fame. Reports also say that Shruti will be presenting the film as well. Earlier this week, the makers released the first look poster along with its title. Despite being in Tamil, the film's story has a universal appeal. It was shot with a basic storyline and no scripted dialogues, bare minimum equipment and crew to ensure that the true essence of life is replicated on screen.

The National Award-winning stunt choreographer Peter Hein has been brought in for superstar Rajinikanth's forthcoming untitled film with Karthik Subbaraj. The makers are currently shooting for the project in Dehradun, where a huge set is created. Reportedly, the team will shoot there for a month and is expected to return to Chennai sometime in July. Bobby Simha, who has been cast in an important role, has also started shooting for his portion. Produced by Sun Pictures, the film has music by Anirudh Ravichander and stars Vijay Sethupathi in a pivotal role.

After keeping fans waiting with bated breath, the makers of ‘Thalapathy 62’ finally unveiled the first look on the eve of Vijay’s birthday. Titled ‘Sarkar’, the film's poster created waves across the internet. As a pleasant surprise for fans, Sun Pictures released two more posters at midnight to wish Vijay on his birthday. Apart from fans, several celebrities from industry also praised the first look of the film. Made on a large scale, the film also stars Keerthy Suresh, Radha Ravi, Pala Karuppiah, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Yogi Babu. After the commercial success of ‘Mersal’, the film will see AR Rahman teaming up once again with Vijay.

Every year, die-hard fans of Vijay celebrate their idol's birthday in a grand fashion and this time was no different. ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay, one of the biggest stars of Kollywood, turned 44 on Friday. The actor, who made his debut in SA Chandrasekar’s ‘Naalaya Theerpu’, completed more than 25 years in the industry. Several leading stars of Tamil cinema namely Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan, Jayam Ravi, Samantha Akkineni, Kajal Aggarwal and Jiiva took to Twitter to wish the ‘Mersal’ star on his birthday. On the other hand, fans relentlessly posted wishes on the micro-blogging platform, thereby recording over 2 million tweets for their favourite star.

After much speculations, director KV Anand took to Twitter to confirm that actress Sayyeshaa has been finalised as the leading lady for Suriya’s forthcoming project which is currently in its pre-production stage. The yet-untitled film is likely to go on floors on June 25 in London. Produced by Lyca Productions, the film has some prominent names in its star cast that includes megastar Mohanlal, Allu Sirish, Bollywood actor Boman Irani and Samuthirakani playing important roles. Harris Jayaraj is already on board and the project is slated to release in 2019.