Cine News Digest – 13 Dec 2025

Mani Ratnam’s next film

After the lukewarm response to his last directorial – Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life – Mani Ratnam is to return to direction with an emotional action thriller with Vijay Sethupathi set to play the lead role.

Shooting for this film will begin in January and the film is set for release in Mid-April 2026. Sai Pallavi was initially announced as the lead actress, but has now been replaced with Rukmini Vasanth.

Vijay Sethupathi had earlier acted under Mani Ratnam’s direction in 2018 multi-starrer, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam.

Vijay Sethupathi in a web series

M. Manikandan, the director of the National Award-winning film Kaakka Muttai and the producer of the National Award-winning Kadaisi Vivasayi, has completed work on his web series Muthu Engira Kaatan – a rural-based action subject with Vijay Sethupathi in the lead role. Vijay Sethupathi is also the producer of the series which will begin streaming in January 2026.

Manikandan has already worked with Vijay Sethupathi in his directorial, Aandavan Kattallai and his home production, Kadaisi Vivasayi.

Vijay Sethupathi teams up with Magizh Thirumeni

Unconfirmed reports state that Vijay Sethupathi is currently in talks to play the lead role in the next film of director Magizh Thirumeni, the director of Ajith Kumar’s Vidaa Muyarchi. Shraddha Kapoor is in talks for the female lead while Sanjay Dutt is in talks to play the film’s antagonist while the main antagonist will be played by Magizh Thirumeni in his acting debut.

Hectic 2026 schedule for Dhanush

Dhanush will have an incredibly busy year in 2026. He is to join hands with director Vignesh Raja, the director of Por Thozhil, for his 54^th film. The supporting cast in this film produced by Vels Film International includes Mamitha Baiju, K.S. Ravikumar, Karunas, Jayaram, M.S. Bhaskar and Prithviraj Pandian.

Dhanush’s 55^th film will be Kalam: The Missile Man of India, the biopic on former State President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam.

Work on research for Dhanush’s other biopic on Isai Nyaani Illaiyaraja continues, with the film set to go on set in June 2026. This biopic will be directed by Arun Matheswaran, the director of Dhanush’s Captain Miller.

This will be followed by Mari Selvaraj’s first big budget film, which will be Dhanush’s 56^th film. The film will have music by A.R. Rahman. Sai Pallavi is in talks to play the female lead.

Dhanush’s other project is a film for director Rajkumar Periasamy, the director of the Sivakarthikeyan’s hit film, Amaran.

Dhanush has also confirmed his role in Vada Chennai 2. Work on this film will commence in 2026 and the film will release in Spring 2027.

Karthi nervous about his next film, Vaa Vaathiyaar.

Karthi and Santhosh Narayanan both expect Vaa Vaathiyaar to be the most important film in their respective careers.

The film has already faced numerous delays relating to financial and legal issues and was initially slated for release in January 2025. With the legal issues still unresolved, it remains unclear when the film will release.

Vaa Vaahiyaar, billed as a comedy entertainer, features Karthi opposite Krithy Shetty of Custody fame. The ensemble supporting cast includes Sathyaraj, Rajkiran, Anandraj, Karunakaran and Ramesh Thilak.

Karthi says that the film might turn out to be controversial. It is a spoof on the comedy genre but has numerous references to M.G. Ramachandran who understood the power of masala films before most others.

Shanthunu’s next film, Magenta

The first look of the film Magenta was revealed earlier this week. The film stars K.Bhagyaraj’s son – Shanthunu Bhagyaraj – in the lead role opposite Anjali Nair.

Magenta is written and directed by Bharath Mohan and has music by Dharankumar.

Shanthunu was last seen on the Tamil screen in Blue Star alsongside Ashok Selvan, Shanthunu’s role in Blue Star saw him win Best Actor at the Australian Tamil International Film Festival.

Shanthunu also plays an important role in Nazriya Nazim’s web series directed by A.L. Vijay – Madras Mystery: Fall of a Superstar -which looks at M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar’s alleged involvement in the murder of film journalist Lakshmikanthan.

The film is directed by Nalan Kumarasamy, the director of Soodhu Kavvum and Kaadhalum Kadanthu Pogum. He also co-wrote the screenplays for Theeya Velai Seyanum Kumaru, Maayavan and Super Deluxe.