We had reported in May this year that Silambarasan had joined hands with director Ramkumar Balakrishnan of Parking-fame for STR 49, featuring Kayadu Lohar as the female lead, along with Santhanam in a key role. However, the film did not go as planned and Ramkumar had reportedly exited the film due to creative differences. The Thug Life actor had meanwhile started filming for Vetri Maaran's next, which is set in the world of Vada Chennai. Despite speculation that the project was dropped due to financial issues, reports have confirmed that the film is very much on track and will go on floors on the second or third week of September as scheduled. The film is currently progressing under the working title STR 49.
According to DT Next which revealed the news, the film's promo will release theatrically along with Rajinikanth's Coolie or in the subsequent days. As reported earlier, the film is backed by Kalaipuli S Thanu of V Creations. In a recent video, Vetri Maaran had clarified that STR 49 is not Vada Chennai 2. However, the film is set in the Vada Chennai universe, and a few characters, settings, and aspects from that film will be a part of this film. The film will maintain the same timeline as Vada Chennai.
It is expected to feature Andrea reprising her role as Chandra, Samuthirakani as Guna, and Kishore as Senthil in pivotal roles, alongside Manikandan and Nelson Dilipkumar. However, a confirmation regarding the same is awaited. A source to the publication that Silambarasan has reportedly opted for a profit-sharing mode for STR 49.
It is to be noted that Vada Chennai was initially set to star Silambarasan in the lead. However, as the film never materialised, it eventually went to Dhanush and ended up becoming both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. While Vetri Maaran has been promising a sequel to Vada Chennai for a while now, he has previously also spoken about spin-offs to the hit film. Details about the plot of this film are unknown at the moment. However, Dhanush recently confirmed that Vada Chennai 2 will definitely happen.
Silambarasan was last seen in Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam's Thug Life. Up next, he has STR 50 with Desingh Periyasamy, and STR 51 with Ashwath Marimuthu.