Cine News Digest – 25 Dec 2025

Dhanush takes over as producer of his 55^th film

As indicated in the previous edition of Cine News Digest, Dhanush has an extremely busy year ahead of him.

His collaboration with Rajkumar Periyasamy, the director of Sivakarthikeyan’s Amaran, will now be his 55^th film, ahead of his biopic on former State President of India, APJ Abdul J Kalam.

D55 was originally scheduled to be produced by Gopuram Films, but there were repeated challenges. Dhanush has now paid back the advance money paid to him and has also reimbursed with interest all pre-production costs borne by Gopuram Films.

D55 will now be produced by Dhanush’s own production company, Wunderbar Films. Dhanush will play the lead role while talks are at an advanced stage to have Mammooty and Sai Pallavi also in the cast. Music will be scored by Sai Abhyankar.

D55 will commence shooting in February 2026 and is scheduled for release in April 2026.

Sam CS confirms project with Dhanush

Sam CS looks to have a promising 2026. He has now been signed on to score the music for Dhanush’s collaboration with H, Vinoth, the director of Vijay’s Jana Nayagan. The official announcement of this film will be made at the audio launch of Jana Nayagan that will; take place in Malaysia this Saturday, 27 December.

Dhanush and Vinoth have agreed on the finer details of the film which is going to be an action thriller. The film will be produced by Seven Screen Studios.

Sivakarthikeyan finalises details on his project with Venkat Prabhu

Sivakarthikeyan has concluded detailed discussions with Venkat Prabhu and his directorial assistants regarding his eagerly-awaited first film for Venkat Prabhu. The film will be a time-travel fantasy film. Earlier in the week, it was announced that Anirudh Ravichander had been roped in to score the music but by the weekend it was announced that Yuvanshankar Raja will now score the music.

Sivakarthikeyan’s next production

Christmas Eve saw the official announcement of Sivakarthikeyan’s next film as producer. Titled Thaai Kizhavi, this rural drama has Radhika Sarathkumar in the lead role. The film introduces a new director – Sivakumar M – to the screen. Sai Abhyankar scores the music. The film will release on 20 February this year.

STR’s gets ready for his 51^st film.

Silambarasan has just completed the Kovilpatti schedule for his latest film, Arasan. The crew has taken a short break and will return to the sets in Chennai in early January for the last schedule.

STR will then commence work on his 51^st film – a lavish budgeted film written and directed by Ashwath Marimuthu, the director of the hit films Oh My Kadavule and Dragon.

After the completion of these two projects, Simbhu will turn his attention to his long delayed collaboration with director Desingh Periyasamy.

Ken Karunaas to make his debut as a director

Ken Karunaas, the son of actor Karunaas and singer Grace, impressed audiences with his small but important roles in Asuran and Viduthalai Part 2 – both under the direction of ace director Vetrimaaran.

Now Ken Karunaas is awaiting the release of his first directorial, with the working title Paarvathaa01, that will see Devadarshini and Suraj Venjaramoodu in important roles. GV Prakash has scored the music with lyrics by Ken Karunaas, Vgnesh Srikanth and Eshwar. The film is produced by Paarvathaa Entertainments.

Dada Director turns producer

Gautham Karthik, the son of actor Karthik, made his debut in Mani Ratnam’s 2013 film, Kadal. After two consecutive years without a release, Gautham Karthik is expected to have three releases in 2026.

His 19^th film will be directed by novice director Dhina Raghavan and will be produced by Ganesh K Babu, the director of Kavin’s hit 2023 movie, Dada.

Dhina Rajendran apprenticed under director Raju Murugan in films like Cuckoo, Joker and Japan. Raju Murugan has penned the script for this film.

The film also features in its cast three other directors – Selvaraghavan, P. Vasu and A. Vebkatesh.

Music will be by Sam CS. The film’s producer – Ganesh K Babu – has also penned one of the lyric.

Watch the latest mesmerising performance by Sruthi Haasan in a song from the forthcoming film Train that has music by Mysskin.

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