For the first time in many years, two movies of the same actor is set to be released on the same day. It's officially Dude vs LIK or rather Pradeep Ranganathan vs Pradeep Ranganathan at the box office this Diwali. While Vignesh Shivan's Love Insurance Kompany was scheduled for an October 17 release, Dude's release remained unclear although the makers specified it would release for the same festive occasion. Earlier, Pradeep noted that only one of the two films will release for Deepavali. But it has now been confirmed that both the films will be releasing on the same day, marking a rare moment for Tamil cinema in recent times.
Dude is Pradeep's fourth film as the lead. He has previously headlined Love Today, which was released in 2022 in which he also served as the director; Ashwath Marimuthu's Dragon, and Vignesh Shivan's Love Insurance Kompany (LIK).
The film, also featuring Mamitha Baiju, Sarathkumar, Hridhu Haroon, Rohini and Dravid Selvam, is bankrolled by Mythri Movie Makers and will also release in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, apart from Tamil. This film is the production company's second Tamil film after Ajith Kumar's latest hit, Good Bad Ugly. Plot details of Dude are currently unknown.
Keerthiswaran had earlier worked as an assistant director for Sudha Kongara in Soorarai Pottru, her segments in Paava Kadhaigal and Putham Pudhu Kaalai.
Dude has music by Sai Abhyankkar, cinematography by Niketh Bommi, and editing by Barath Vikraman. Upon release on October 17, Dude and Love Insurance Kompany will also clash with Mari Selvaraj-Dhruv Vikram's Bison Kaalamaadan at the box office.
Vignesh Shivan's LIK revolves around finding love in a futuristic world. The film also stars Krithi Shetty and SJ Suryah in lead roles. Actor-politician Seeman is also part of the cast along with Gouri G Kishan, Yogi Babu, and Shah Rah. Anirudh is composing the music for the film. LIK was initially slated to hit theatres on September 18 but was pushed to October 17 to capitalise on the Deepavali festival.
Vignesh Shivan is also producing the film along with Nayanthara under the Rowdy Pictures banner. Along with producing Love Insurance Kompany under his Seven Screen Studio banner, SS Lalit Kumar is also presenting the film.