Vijay Antony-Sathyaraj-Bharathiraja unite on Valli Mayil, a multilingual film, directed by Susienthiran

Vijay Antony, who wrapped up work on CS Amudhan's Ratham, has started shooting for his next, directed by Susienthiran. Titled Valli Mayil, the film features Sathyaraj and filmmaker Bharathiraja, in pivotal roles. The project went on floors in Dindigul, recently, following a traditional puja. The first day of the shoot was kicked off by the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies of Tamil Nadu, R Sakkarapani.

A source tells OTTplay, "The shoot will happen in and around Dindigul for the next 30 days. Eventually, we will move to Theni, Kodaikanal, Karaikudi, Kerala and Palani, for subsequent schedules. For now, Vijay Antony and Faria Abdullah of Jathi Ratnalu-fame joined the first schedule. The story is set in the 80s, and is mounted on a huge budget."

Valli Mayil will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. The movie has music by D Imman, cinematography by Vijay K Chakravarthy, editing by Antony and songs by Yuga Bharathi.

On the work front, Vijay Antony is awaiting the release of multiple films, including Agni Siragugal, Thamizharasan, Kolai (directed by Balaji Kumar) and Mazhai Pidikatha Manithan (The film stars Sarath Kumar in a pivotal role while veteran actor Vijayakanth will be making his return to the big screen in a special role.)

A report published by the Times of India says Valli Mayil will be shot primarily in forests. Producer Thai Saravanan says, “Susienthiran has been researching the subject — which is partly inspired by real-life incidents — since COVID-19 struck. It was only at the fag end of last year that he finished scripting. We started approaching actors in December, and everyone agreed to be part of the film right in the first meeting. Each character is a hero on its own.”

Vijay Antony will also don the director's hat for Pichaikkaran 2. The film is the much-awaited sequel to his 2016 hit, Pichaikkaran.

According to Cinema Express, Vijay's decision to foray into direction does come as a surprise to the fans. "I was very sure that I didn't want to direct, but somehow I wrote a story. Eventually, I started to process that story in my mind. It's like giving birth to a child. You don't know who that child is until it grows up with you, and when you begin to understand that child, the bond grows as well. That's how it happened and I decided to direct this film."

Pichaikkaran 2 also stars John Vijay, Harish Peraddi, YG Mahendra, Ajay Ghosh, Yogi Babu and others. The director will also edit the film and compose music for the same.