Dragon: Tovino Thomas, Biju Menon in NTR Jr, Prashanth Neel’s big budget film?

Malayalam stars Tovino Thomas and Biju Menon could soon be joining Prashanth Neel’s Telugu film with NTR Jr that has been tentatively titled Dragon, according to reports. Prashanth's previous film Salaar too had Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran in a pivotal role and the actor had suggested a crossover between that film as well the NTR movie, which is also referred to as #NTR31.

The big budget film, as per reports, is set to begin shooting on January 16 and the makers have already announced its release date – January 9, 2026. The pooja function of the film was held in August 2024.

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Rukmini Vasanth, who had shot to fame with the Kannada hits Sapta Saagaradaache Ello: Side A & B, has been roped in as the female lead of the movie, which will be released in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.

Tovino Thomas to star in NTR Jr and Prashanth Neel’s next

The movie will be produced by Mythiri Movie Makers, who had incidentally also backed Tovino’s two movies in 2024 – Dr Biju’s Adrishyajalakangal and Lal Jr’s Nadikar. While the former was acclaimed, the latter failed to work at the box office, despite Tovino’s performance as a ‘superstar trying to turn his luck around’ being lauded. Nadikar is yet to release on OTT. Tovino had also met with Prashanth Neel during the promotions of his 3D adventure fantasy film Ajayante Randam Moshanam last year.

The movie will also mark Tovino’s debut Telugu venture. During the promotions of Ajayante Randam Moshanam in Hyderabad, he had said that he was getting offers and he was hoping that something good works out. The Minnal Murali actor’s latest movie Identity , which also has Trisha Krishnan and Vinay Rai, is currently running in theatres.

Biju Menon to return to Telugu with NTR Jr film

Biju Menon, meanwhile, is currently part of the upcoming Sivakarthikeyan and AR Murugadoss movie, which incidentally also has Rukmini as part of the cast. The actor told OTTplay last year that he has been getting offers from other industries , post his performance in Ayyappanum Koshiyum. Biju Menon’s previous Telugu venture was Khatarnak in 2006.