Reports have emerged in the tinsel town that ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan will direct the Hindi remake of the hit Tamil film Maanagaram, directed by Lokesh Kanakaraj in 2017.
Sources in the know say that the remake will star Vikrant Massey in the lead role and the rest of the star cast will be announced soon officially. The groundwork for this project is on and the shooting is likely to commence in January next year. The entire shooting will be wrapped in a 50-day schedule and will be shot in various parts of Mumbai, add sources. Incidentally, the shooting of the original version was completed in 46 days.
Maanagaram was a Tamil action thriller film that was written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. It was bankrolled by SR Prakashbabu, SR Prabhu, Prabhu Venkatachalam, Gopinath and Thanga Prabaharan under the banner Potential Studios. The film starred Sri, Sundeep Kishan, and Regina Cassandra in the lead roles with Charle, Madhusudhan Rao, Munishkanth, and Vivek Prasanna in the supporting roles. The technical crew of this film included Javed Riaz for music, Selvakumar SK for cinematography and Philomin Raj for editing. Maanagaram went on to win the 10th Vijay Awards for Best Director - Lokesh Kanagaraj and Best Editor - Philomin Raj.
The story of Maanagaram revolves around three people - Sri, Sundeep Kishan and Regina Cassandra. According to story, Sri arrives in the city to take up a job but is threatened by some men due to a mistaken identity. What ensues further forms the crux of the story, told grippingly.
While the groundwork for the Maanagaram remake is on, Santosh Sivan has completed directing the Malayalam film Jack n Jill. The film’s star cast includes Kalidas Jayaram, Manju Warrier, Esther Anil, Soubin Shahir, Nedumudi Venu, Basil Joseph, Aju Varghese and Shaylee Krishen. Sources in the know say that Jack n Jill will be a bilingual releasing in Malayalam and Tamil. The film is bankrolled by the Dubai based company, Lensman Studios. Its technical crew comprises debut music director Ram Surendar with BK Harinarayanan penning the lyrics. Santosh Sivan is cranking the camera for this venture with Renjith roped in for editing. Jack n Jill slated for release this April was postponed due to the COVID 19 lockdown. Apart from directing this film, Santosh Sivan is also producing Kaliyugam under his banner.
Santosh Sivan, who had worked with AR Murugadoss in Thuppakki and Spyder teamed up for the third time for Rajinikanth starrer Darbar which had hit the screens earlier this year. It may be noted here that Santosh Sivan had cranked the camera for the Rajinikanth starrer Thalapathi way back in 1991 and did not get an opportunity to work with the Superstar since then.
Santosh Sivan is a well-known name in the film industry and has directed quite a few Hindi films in his long career. This first Hindi directorial was Halo which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film in 1996. He then went on to direct Asoka in 2001 which earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography.
(Content provided by Digital Native)