Mersal (film)

Mersal
Official Second Look Poster
மெர்சல்
Directed by	Atlee
Produced by	N. Ramasamy Hema Rukmani R. Mahendran H. Murali
Written by	Atlee S. Ramana Girivasan (Dialogue)
Screenplay by	Atlee K. V. Vijayendra Prasad S. Ramana Girivasan
Story by	K. V. Vijayendra Prasad
Starring	Vijay S. J. Surya Kajal Agarwal Samantha Ruth Prabhu Nithya Menon Sathyaraj Vadivelu
Music by	Original songs: A. R. Rahman Background Score: A. R. Rahman Qutub-E-Kripa
Cinematography	G. K. Vishnu
Edited by	Ruben
Production company	SN Techs Film Productions Company
Distributed by	Sri Thenandal Films (Tamil Nadu) North Star Entertainment (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) S. Narayan (Karnataka) Global United Media (Kerala) MKS Talkies (Australia & New Zealand)
Release date	18 October 2017
Running time	172 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹150 crore (US$23 million) estimated [1]

Mersal (English: Stunning)^[2] is an upcoming Indian 2017 Tamil language period thriller film starring actor Vijay in triple roles with Nithya Menon, Kajal Agarwal and Samantha Ruth Prabhu playing the female-lead roles. The film is directed by Atlee and co-written by K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, S. Ramana Girivasan and Atlee with background score and soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman while the cinematography is done by G. K. Vishnu and editing is by Ruben.

The film began its production in February 2017 with actors Sathyaraj, S. J. Surya, and Vadivelu amongst others in supporting roles. The film is expected to release in late 2017 along with its Telugu dubbed version Adirindhi.

Cast

Production

Development

Following the release of Atlee's Theri, in which Vijay's starred, the pair were signed by SN Techs Film Productions Company for another project together in September 2016.^[4][5] Safwan Saleem, the chief executive officer of the production house, revealed that the film would be written by K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, who had earlier worked on the Baahubali series and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015).^[6] The action sequences of the film are directed by Peter Hein and Anal Arasu.^[7] Vijay learned a few magic tricks in preparation for his role as the magician.^[8]

Casting

The producers announced in January 2017 that three lead actresses – Kajal Aggarwal, Nithya Menon and Samantha, would portray roles in the film. Actors S. J. Surya and Sathyaraj also joined the cast, with comedians Vadivelu, Sunil, Kovai Sarala, Sathyan and Rajendran also working on the film.^[9] S. J. Surya is playing villainous role in the movie.^[10] Composer A. R. Rahman was also added to the technical team, as were editor Ruben, costume designer Neeraja Kona and debutant cinematographer G. K. Vishnu, an erstwhile assistant of Richard M. Nathan.^[11] Vadivelu finally acts alongside Vijay after 6 years since his last film with Vijay, Kaavalan.^[12]. The production team of Mersal told Jyothika would play main heroine but due to some unavoidable reasons she walked out of the film. The makers were choosing a perfect replacement over her role some very popular actress like Asin Thottumkal was also considered but due to post marriage she rejected the chance. the role went to Nithya Menon.

Filming

A launch event for the film was held at Adityaram Studios in Chennai on 1 February 2017, with production beginning thereafter.^[13] A few days after the shoot began, Jyothika opted out of the project and the makers signed Nithya Menen to replace her.^[14] The team has decided to shoot a song in Jaisalmer during the summer despite the hot weather.^[15] The steam engine named 7161WP AKBAR was used in this movie while shooting in Rajasthan.^[16][17] Some of the filming was conducted in Gdańsk, Poland.^[18] The shooting is currently held in Chennai, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan and Konaseema in Andhra Pradesh, while the songs would be filmed overseas.

Soundtrack

The musical score that accompanies the film is composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics penned by Vivek. The soundtrack is all set to be released on 20 August 2017 by Sony Music.^[19][20] G. V. Prakash Kumar, Sid Sriram, Kailash Kher and Shreya Ghoshal are also a part of the soundtrack.^[21]

The first single Aalaporaan Tamizhan was released on 10 August 2017.^[22]

Distribution

North Star Entertainment along with SN Techs Film Distribution Company have secured the distribution rights for the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Global Media United has secured the distribution rights for the film in Kerela, MKS Talkies has secured the distribution rights for the film in Australia and New Zealand.^[23] With the postponement of Enthiran 2,^[24] the first look poster released on 21 June 2017, revealing the title as Mersal with actor Vijay in a Jallikattu attire, also the production team was released the second look poster on Vijay's birthday, 22 June.^[25][26] The audio release has been planned for 20 August 2017 in a grand manner.^[27]

References

External links

• Mersal on IMDb