​Thalapathy 67 OTT rights bagged for a record price even before announcement?

​That Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj are all set to team up for yet another film after Master, is something we already know. The film is tentatively referred to as Thalapathy67. Lokesh Kanagaraj had stated that he is busy with the pre-production work of the film and that the shoot is likely to begin in December. Now the latest we hear is that the OTT rights of the film have been bagged even before any formal announcement about the film. The buzz is that Netflix, one of the leading OTT portals has bagged the rights for a whopping Rs 160 crore. This is said to be a one-of-its-kind pre-release business for a film. 

Thalapathy67 is said to be a gangster drama and Trisha is likely to play the leading lady, marking the comeback of the hit duo, who had worked in Ghilli, Thirupaachi, Kuruvi and Aathi. The film is also likely to star Sanjay Dutt, Nivin Pauly, Vishal, Mansoor Ali Khan and Gautham Menon. Thalapathy67 is billed as a pan-India project and is likely to release in multiple languages.

Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj had earlier teamed up for the hit commercial potboiler Master (2021), which also had Vijay Sethupathi as the prime antagonist, along with Malavika Mohanan as the leading lady. The supporting cast included Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Andrea Jeremiah, Arjun Das, Poovaiayar and Gouri G Kishan. The plot revolves around an alcoholic professor named J D, who is assigned to teach at a juvenile home where he comes across the ruthless drug kingpin Vijay Sethupathi. While the music for the film was by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography was by Sathyan Sooran and editing was by Philomin Raj.

After Master, while Vijay went on to work with Nelson Dilipkumar in Beast, Lokesh Kanagaraj churned out one of the biggest hits in his career, the action entertainer Vikram, which had Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil in the lead roles.