Buzz: Vijay, Rashmika Mandanna to team up for Thalapathy 66; shoot to begin in April in Chennai

Even as fans of Vijay have been impatiently awaiting the official announcement regarding the release of Beast, it looks like they might get an update on his next outing, (tentatively Thalapathy 66) earlier than expected. It is heard that Rashmika Mandanna has been roped in to play the female lead in the film which has Vamshi Paidipally at the helm.

Tipped as a family entertainer with ample dose of action, the movie will be released in Tamil and Telugu. Dil Raju is producing the project under his banner Sri Venkateswara Creations. This is the veteran Tollywood producer's second movie in Kollywood after the long-delayed project Indian 2.

According to the grapevine, the movie's shooting is likely to begin in a studio in Chennai from the first week of April. Tollywood star Nani is also said to have come on board. Thaman is composing music for a Vijay-starrer for the first time. The musician, who is super busy with a slew of Telugu projects, had announced his inclusion in the crew more than a year ago.

Meanwhile, fans of Vijay on social media are divided on Rashmika being cast as the project's female lead despite the lack of an official announcement coming from the makers.  

The much-expected action thriller, Beast, on the other hand, is expected to hit the screens on April 14. There are speculation on the movie's team mulling over preponing its release by a day or two to avoid clash with the most-anticipated Yash-starrer KGF 2.

The first single from the film, Arabic Kuthu, composed by Anirudh, has garnered more than 125M views on YouTube in a short span and has created a record. Nelson Dilipkumar has directed the movie which has Pooja Hegde playing the female lead.