Thalapathy 69

Thalapathy 69
Announcement poster
Directed by	H. Vinoth
Written by	H. Vinoth Kamal Haasan
Produced by	Venkat K. Narayana Jagadish Palanisamy Lohith N. K.
Starring	Vijay Pooja Hegde Bobby Deol
Cinematography	Sathyan Sooryan
Edited by	Pradeep E. Ragav
Music by	Anirudh Ravichander
Production company	KVN Productions
Release date	October 2025
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹275 crore

Thalapathy 69 is the working title for an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by H. Vinoth, who co-wrote the script with Kamal Haasan, and produced by KVN Productions. The film stars Vijay and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles, with Bobby Deol, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain, Priyamani, Mamitha Baiju and Monisha Blessy in the supporting roles. It is the final film of Vijay before his entry into politics and the studio's first production in Tamil cinema.

The project was confirmed by Vijay in February 2024 under the tentative title Thalapathy 69, as it is the actor-politician's 69th film as the lead actor. He furthermore stated that it would be his final film before entering politics. As he didn't state who the director was, various directors were reported to be the front-runners, including Karthik Subbaraj and Vetrimaaran. In August, Vinoth confirmed his presence in the film, followed by KVN confirming the project in September. Principal photography commenced the following month in Payyanur. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by Sathyan Sooryan and editing by Pradeep E. Ragav.

The film is scheduled to release worldwide in October 2025 in theatres.

Cast

• Vijay
• Pooja Hegde
• Bobby Deol
• Gautham Vasudev Menon
• Prakash Raj
• Narain
• Priyamani
• Mamitha Baiju
• Monisha Blessy

Production

Development

The film is the first collaboration between Vijay with H. Vinoth.

On 2 February 2024, Vijay announced through his social media accounts that he would be stepping into the politics arena after completing his current projects, The Greatest of All Time (2024) and an upcoming film, which was tentatively titled Thalapathy 69. The Times of India reported that the project would be directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by Sun Pictures, while Pinkvilla reported the director was not finalised with front-runners as H. Vinoth, Subbaraj or Atlee. However, Vetrimaaran was instead reported to be in talks. The project would also be reportedly funded by D. V. V. Danayya's DVV Entertainment, in their maiden Tamil-language film. In mid March, though, Vetrimaaran confirmed during an award function that he will not be helming the project, which led to Trivikram and Vinoth being front-runners, followed by reports that the latter directing becoming stronger.

Vinoth had initially narrated a script to Vijay, at the same time when the latter was working on Mersal (2017). The actor, however, declined the script and worked on Bigil (2019). Vinoth reportedly narrated the same script to Kamal Haasan which impressed the actor. Haasan finalised him as the director for his 233rd film in the lead. The project was however shelved. The director had then met Vijay again in February 2024 and narrated the same script to him again. The actor, who had received ₹200 crore for his remuneration in The Greatest of All Time, was reported receive ₹275 crore (US$33 million), this becoming highest-paid Indian actor surpassing Shah Rukh Khan. In August, Vinoth confirmed that he would direct the project. The project is funded by Venkat K. Narayana's KVN Productions, in their maiden Tamil production. Jagadish Palanisamy, Vijay's manager, and Lohith N. K. served as the co-producers. The company made a public announcement on 14 September, confirming the project.

Pre-production

The film's cast and crew at the muhurat puja.

When Vinoth was committed to Haasan's 233rd film, he had received changes from the actor which went to the final script and was narrated to Vijay. The director said that the film would be completely made in Vijay's style, unlike his previous film's which he had considered as political films. However, the poster announcement of the film, which featured the tagline "torch bearer of democracy arriving soon", made some media question the film's genre. A muhurat puja was held on 4 October 2024 at Prime Studio in Chennai with the presence of the film's cast and crew.

In early-October 2024, Sathyan Sooryan was announced as the cinematographer, marking his second film with Vinoth after Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) and Vijay after Master (2021). Anirudh Ravichander would score the music, in his first collaboration with the director. Vinoth had further chosen technicians in his maiden collaboration including editor Pradeep E. Ragav, stunt choreographer Anal Arasu, art director V. Selvakumar, costume designer Pallavi Singh, choreographer Shekar Master, while retaining publicity designer Gopi Prasannaa. Ramkumar Balasubramaniam was appointed as executive producer of the film by the production house.

Casting

Pooja Hegde was cast as the female lead, reuniting with Vijay after Beast (2022). Bobby Deol would make his Tamil sophomore with the film.

Vijay had reportedly finalised his look for his character at a look test, which was reported to pertain held in August. Pooja Hegde was confirmed as the female lead, in her second collaboration with Vijay after Beast (2022) also marking her fourth Tamil film after Mugamoodi (2012), Beast and Suriya 44. Bollywood actor Bobby Deol was confirmed to play the main antagonist, in his second Tamil film following Kanguva (2024), and his fourth South Indian film, after Kanguva, NBK109 and Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit. Hegde stated "Halamithi and Habibo Reunites" which was a reference to the first single from Beast, "Arabic Kuthu", and became viral on social media.

Gautham Vasudev Menon, Narain, Priyamani, and Prakash Raj would play prominent roles in the film. Menon would collaborate with Vijay for the second time after previously acting together in Leo (2023), whilst Raj would also collaborate with the actor in his seventh collaboration, after namely working together in Ghilli (2004) and Varisu (2023). Malayalam actress Mamitha Baiju would make her Tamil sophomore after Rebel (2024). All of their inclusion were confirmed by the production house in early-October 2024. Monisha Blessy was featured in the muhurat puja, thereby confirming her inclusion.

Filming

The first schedule took place at Payyanur, Kerala.

Principal photography began with the first schedule on 5 October 2024 at Payyanur in Kerala. Filming was reported to have started with a song sequence, picturised on Vijay and Pooja under the choreography by Sekhar Master. A massive set was reportedly erected for the sequence and the schedule was reported to go there for two weeks.

Music

The soundtrack is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his fifth collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi (2014), Master (2021), Beast (2022) and Leo (2023); first with Vinoth.

Release

The film is scheduled to release theatrically in October 2025. Apart from the original Tamil language, it is also scheduled to be released in the Telugu, Hindi and Kannada languages.

External links

• Thalapathy 69 at IMDb