We had earlier reported that Karthick Naren, who shot to fame with his debut film, Dhuruvangal Pathinaru, will be directing Arun Vijay in an upcoming project, that has been speculated to be titled Mafia.

The film's first look has now been released, affirming the title to be Mafia. The poster features Arun Vijay in three different avatars. While the actor wields a gun in a couple of avatars, the third one has him donning a swimskin, along with a breathing apparatus. Also, the title font has impressions of guns and cannabis leaves, suggesting a reference to a crime cartel. The title comes with the tagline Chapter 1, making it quite clear that Karthick intends to make a franchise out of this.  

While Prasanna plays the antagonist, Priya Bhavani Shankar has been roped in as the female lead in the film, which is produced by Lyca Productions. 

Karthick says that the film will go on floors on July 6 (Saturday). "As the gangster drama is set in Chennai, the entire project will be shot in the city. We're planning to wrap up the shoot in a single schedule of 35 days. The first look is more on a sneak peek to what can be expected from the characters. We have incorporated subtle hints about the lead's characterisation in it. All three principal actors will be doing roles that they have not done before," he says.

Jakes Bejoy, who composed the music for the director's first film, Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru, will be in charge of Mafia's music. Gokul Benoy, who got rave reviews for Monster, will be handling the cinematography.