Rashmika Mandanna to play the female lead in Chiyaan 61, directed by Pa Ranjith?

Grapevine has it that Rashmika Mandanna might be cast opposite Vikram in the upcoming Pa Ranjith-directed, Chiyaan 61 (tentatively titled). The filming began recently with a puja ceremony. Bankrolled by KE Gnanavelraja's Studio Green and Pa Ranjith's Neelam Productions. The cast and crew of this one have been kept under wraps. But for now, we know GV Prakash has been roped in to compose the music. Rashmika is currently busy with Vijay's Vamsi-directed Varisu and Allu Arjun's Pushpa: The Rule. In 2021, she made her debut in Tamil cinema with Karthi's Sultan.

Ranjith said at the Cannes Film Market that Chiyaan 61 will be set in the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), but it will be very different from Prashanth Neel's KGF duology. Ranjith-Vikram's film will be a historical social drama about working-class miners discovering gold for the first time in KGF in the nineteenth century. The filmmaker indicated that he wanted to wait till Prashanth Neel's KGF flicks were published before comparing them. Originally, the Vikram project was planned to follow Kabali.

In an interview with a leading English daily, Pa Ranjith spoke about how he makes films to satisfy his creative need. “From my childhood, the subject of caste has accompanied me everywhere, whether in celebrations or failures. So when I became a director, I had to talk about it…”

Take, for example, a tree, or it may be a well or a playground, he cites. “Most others in my community regarded them as objects of beauty or places of joy, but I didn't since society told me it wasn't mine.I kept wondering why something so widely used by everyone was inaccessible to me. So, when I film a tree or a well now, I am not merely looking at it artistically; it tells me a new tale. I want to be the director who tells that tale!”

Further, Ranjith went on to say, “There are several incidents. The one thing that nagged at me was, why weren't we (Dalits) one with society? This may have seemed little to others, but it greatly worried me.”

Ranjith's other projects include Natchathiram Nagargirathu, the crossover picture Vettuvam, Sarpatta Parambarai spinoffs, and his Hindu debut based on the biography of Birsa Munda.