Atharvaa has an unexplored side of acting in him: M Rajesh

CHENNAI: Actor Atharvaa Murali and director M Rajesh are all set to join hands for a project, which will go on floors in summer this year. “My focus is on the post-production of Jayam Ravi’s Brother. We are looking at dates in April-May to release the film. Once Brother hits the screens, this project will go on floors immediately,” says director Rajesh. To be presented by P Ranganathan of Sri Vaari Film, Aditi Shankar will play the female lead. “I wanted a female actor, who could speak Tamil. All my female leads previously have performed well but knowing the language is an added advantage and creates magic on the sets. It gives scope for improvement during filming. This is the reason why we chose Aditi Shankar apart from her being a decent performer,” he adds.

Rajesh is known for delivering blockbusters like Siva Manasula Sakthi and Boss Engira Baskaran for Jiiva and Arya respectively, when they were in the prime of their careers. “Atharvaa has worked across genres and he has pulled off boy-next-door characters with ease. However, he hasn’t played a proper Chennai guy yet and I wanted to explore that side of his acting potential with our film. The project too will be completely shot in Chennai,” the filmmaker opens up.

In a recent interview, Jayam Ravi spoke to us about how emotions are Rajesh’s forte. The filmmaker smiles and says, “Yes, but comedy in my movies ends up having the upper hand. In Siva Manasula Sakthi, the second half had an emotional drama between Jiiva and Urvashi ma’am, Boss Engira Baskaran had family emotion as its core. OK OK had this emotional chord between Saranya ma’am and Azhagam Perumal. Likewise, Brother too will have brother-sister bonding. Also, my film with Atharvaa is a fun-filled entertainer, and will have a strong emotion as its core.”

Sam CS will be composing the music for this untitled-project. “Yuvan is busy with GOAT and Harris is focused on Brother’s music. Sam is another talented composer, who has credible albums to his name and I was looking forward to working with him. He is excited about this and we can’t wait to present what Sam would have in store for this movie,” Rajesh remarks.