Tharai Thappattai

Tharai Thappattaiதாரை தப்பட்டை is an upcoming Tamil film written and directed by Bala. The film features Sasikumar and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in the leading roles, while Ilaiyaraaja composes the film's music based on karakattam. This film also happens to be Ilaiyaraaja's 1000th film. The film began production in 2014.^[1]

Cast

• Sasikumar
• Varalaxmi Sarathkumar
• Satish Kaushik
• Amudhavaanan
• Kaavya Sha
• Pragathi Guruprasad
• Suresh
• Anandhi

Production

Director Bala finalised his next project following Paradesi (2013) only in October 2013 and revealed that he would make a film starring his former protege Sasikumar in the lead role, while G. V. Prakash Kumar and Kishore would be the film's composer and editor respectively.^[2] In January 2014, Bala decided to call Ilaiyaraaja in to the project to replace G. V. Prakash.^[3]
Early reports had suggested that Shriya Saran had been signed on to play the leading female role of a Karagattam dancer, but it was later noted that she had only been auditioned for the part.^[4] However after also auditioning other actresses including Shravanthi Sainath, he then chose to offer Varalaxmi Sarathkumar the leading role and subsequently asked her to lose ten kilograms for the film.^[5] Sasikumar was asked to shave his trademark beard and sport a thin moustache, in order to reportedly play a Nadaswaram player in the movie.^[6] Pragathi Guruprasad, a finalist in Airtel Super Singer Junior competition, was picked to make her acting debut as Sasikumar's sister in the film.^[7] Producer Suresh of Studio 9 Media Works, was signed on to play the antagonist in the film and undertook training in fight scenes with action choreographer Pandian.^[8] The team also selected Hindi film maker Satish Kaushik to portray a character in the film, and he joined the team in the third schedule.^[9] In January 2015, reports revealed that Kannada actress Kaavya Sha had been given a pivotal role in the film, which will mark her Tamil debut.^[10]
The title of the film was announced in March 2014 to be Tharai Thappattai, after titles including Karagattam and Paarai had been considered.^[11] Also by March 2014, it was revealed that Ilaiyaraaja had finished recording 12wow songs for this film using a live orchestra, in a span of six days. Furthermore, since folk dance is an integral part of the film, he had used folk musicians who are not associated with the film industry.^[12]