It was Ajith and Shalini who urged director Rajes Kanna to begin his own production house. Paying heed to their advice, Rajes, under his Fox & Crow Studios banner, has come up with his maiden production, Mayan, an English-Tamil bilingual based on Lord Shiva and the ancient Mayans. "This will be the first full-blown commercial Tamil film to also be made in English. All the actors except the leading lady have been retained for both the versions," says Rajes, who slots his directorial in the fantasy-thriller genre. 

Starring Malaysian actor Vinod Tamizh in his Tamil debut,  Mayan features Bindu Madhavi as the female lead in the Tamil version. "We wanted someone with powerful eyes and a very dominating personality. So we zeroed in on Bindu," says the director, who has cast Priyanka Arul Mohan in the English version. Incidentally, Priyanka is also part of Sivakarthikeyan's Doctor.

Mayan also has John Vijay, Aadukalam, Dheena, Raja Simman, Ganja Karuppu, and Sivaranjini in important roles. "No compromises have been made in the English version. Actors like Ganja Karuppu have also spoken English in the film. The English in Mayan won't be an anglicised version but the normal English spoken by people in India," assures Rajes, who has also directed many Sun TV reality shows, including Vishal's Naam Oruvar. 

While Mayan has been shot in Chennai, Rajes believes the film has a universal theme that will connect with audiences across the world.

The CGI work for the film is currently ongoing and will only get done by February-March, the director tells us, adding that the makers are planning to have an audio launch in January. "We are happy to introduce Jones Rupert Niranjan as the music director. Simbu has sung a very different song and we are very glad to have him on board," says Rajes.