After Neram, Malayalam actor Nivin Pauly returns to K’town with a movie titled Santa Maria which has been directed by Gautham Ramachandran, a former assistant to ace Mysskin. In the Tamil- Malayalam bilingual, Natraj aka Natty will be playing the other hero. Now, we have learned that it has been renamed Avargal in Tamil, which is the title of K. Balachander’s cult classic movie that had both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in the lead. The film is a remake of the hit Kannada neo-noir crime drama Ulidavaru Kandanthe.
While Nivin plays the role of Richie — a goon in the film, Natty reprises Kishore and essays the role of boat mechanic Selva. When we contacted Natty he did confirm that talks are on with the makers of Avargal. “The title is a really apt one for this film. The original was released about four decades ago, and I am sure our producers would have gotten the permission by now.
The highlight is the lively narration and interesting screenplay of Gautham Ramachandran.” He also reveals that the film is complete and he has even dubbed for his portions. Shraddha Srinath and Lakshmipriya are the two leading ladies of the film.
However, the major reason for the title change in Tamil is to avail state tax exemption. The Malayalam version will retain the title Santa Maria.
