Chennai, October 30 (IANS) If sources in the industry are to be believed, actress Wamiqa Gabbi has been roped in to play the female lead opposite ace Tamil film director Lokesh Kanakaraj in his first film as a hero.
The film, which is yet to be titled, is being directed by critically acclaimed director Arun Matheeswaran.
Sources said that the Bollywood actress, who is also known for her Malayalam film ‘Godha’ and her Tamil film ‘Malai Nerathu Mayakkam’, had been roped in as the female lead for the film, which will be a gangster drama.
Shooting for the film was progressing at a brisk pace and the entire film was likely to be wrapped up by January next year, they added.
It may be recalled that Lokesh Kanakaraj had undergone martial arts training for this film. Lokesh underwent martial arts training in Thailand for this film soon after he directed Superstar Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’, which hit screens worldwide on August 14 this year.
On the direction front, Lokesh Kanakaraj will next work on ‘Kaithi 2’, featuring Karthi in the lead.
Interestingly, pre-production work for ‘Kaithi 2’ has already kickstarted. Last week, Dream Warrior Pictures, which is producing the Kaithi franchise, had fondly recalled the first instalment of the film completing six years.
Taking to its X timeline, the production house had said, “Some stories fade. Some become legends. Dilli stole our hearts — and still rules them! Six years on, #Kaithi stands tall. #6YearsOfKaithi”
Talking to media persons on the sidelines of an event, producer S R Prabhu, whose production house is producing the upcoming film, had said in May this year, “Work on ‘Kaithi 2’ has already begun. In fact, preparations for the shooting of ‘Kaithi 2’ began a month ago. Shooting will begin by the end of the year. Actor Karthi will begin shooting for his film with director Tamizh, best known for having directed the critically acclaimed cop drama Taanakaran, from next month. Once Karthi is done with that film, he will begin work on ‘Kaithi 2’.”
For the unaware, the first film in the franchise, ‘Kaithi’, went on to emerge a huge success. It may be recalled that director Lokesh Kanagaraj had disclosed that his inspiration for ‘Kaithi’, featuring actors Karthi and Naren in the lead, came from the Bruce Willis-starrer ‘Die Hard’.
Lokesh had then said that apart from ‘Die Hard’, he had also got inspired by a newsreport he had read. “My assistant directors and I were discussing a news report that had appeared in a newspaper when I got the spark for the story,” the director had said.
One of the important factors that made ‘Kaithi’ stand out was that it did not have any female leads.
The first instalment’s story revolved around an individual who returns from prison after serving a sentence. The story takes place in a single night. The film was an action-packed thriller, with Karthi playing a lorry driver in the film.
–IANS
mkr/