Did you know director Karthik Subbaraj tried to cast Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino in Jagame Thandhiram?

Dhanush’s Jagame Thandhiram has been in news ever since it was released on Netflix. The film, which is trending on number 1 spot in Netflix India, was initially going to star Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro of The Godfather fame, in the lead roles, confirmed director Karthik Subbaraj.

The filmmaker confirmed the news in an interview with Mid-Day. Not just Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino but even James Cosmo was in the running to play Dhanush’s role.

“Initially, we tried to cast Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. However, the plan didn’t materialise because of budget [constraints]. Then, we moved our story’s location from New York to London. Naturally then, we wanted some international actor based out of the UK. That’s when James Cosmo came into the picture,” Karthik confirmed.

The director also opened up about changing the scenario from New York to London. “You could see that people from different countries, belonging to different races have come to New York to build a life for themselves. However, after a point, I felt that the story [was better suited] in London. I rewrote the script, bringing in several changes, and during the process, I could see how the story [flowed more seamlessly] against the backdrop of London. We’re talking about a gangster from Madurai, and there are countless Tamil people in the [British capital],” he shared.

Karthik is not-so-pleased that the movie had an OTT release. He felt it was better suited for a theatrical release, owing to Dhanush’s popularity among the theatre-going audiences.

“People would have loved to watch such a film in theatres. That experience can’t be replaced,” he shared.

Apart from Dhanush, Jagame Thandhiram also stars Joju George in the lead role.