Actor Rahman is set to star in a new rural fantasy drama helmed by Bharathi balakumaran, who has earlier directed Vizha. The upcoming film brings the actor back to the rural milieu after the 1999 film Sangamam.

The director says that though the untitled film is a rural film and also focuses on a folk art, 'Aazhi Attam', it has no connection to Sangamam in any way. "The only connection is the background, the actor and the folk art. Our film has Rahman sir play the heir of a Zamin family, who are well past their glory days. His family's downfall was caused by a curse that passed from one generation to another. Rahman sir’s character attempts hard to break this curse," he says.

The film, he adds, will also effectively experiment with Rahman's looks. "More often than not, we have seen Rahman sir as a suave and urban person. He plays a 60-year-old in the film, which is something we did not see him do very often. We have taken efforts in designing costumes according to the 80s aesthetics," he says, adding that the fascination in experimenting with a role that Rahman has not done before was the reason behind his casting. "The people, the Tamil audience, haven't seen Rahman sir like this before. So the film will offer a new experience."

Elaborating on the art form ‘Aazhi Aattam,’ Bharathi says that it is specific to Tenkasi and Tirunelveli, and not very commonly known. “This form of worship, which later changed into a rural art form, is dedicated to Amman during the Vaikasi Visakam festival. ‘Aazhi Aattam’ can be classified into a dance where the performer bears something on their head, similar to ‘Karakkaattam’. Mime Gopi sir is playing a character who performs 'Aazhi Aattam' in the film,” he says, adding that the film’s crew has also undergone an enormous task in the art direction department. “The film is set in two time periods, one in the 1920s and the other in the 1980s. So, our team invested eight months in researching and arranging the kind of props and materials required to set the milieu satisfactorily.”

With the film set to enter production later this month, Bharathi says that he has planned a shooting period of around 50 days divided into multiple schedules. “The major portions of the film will be canned in Pudukkottai, and we will then shift to Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Andhra Pradesh for the remainder of the scenes. We are planning for a release around October or November.”

Starring alongside Rahman are Mime Gopi, Aadukalam Naren, Risha Jacobs, Munishkanth, Anupama Kumar, Baba Bhaskar, Remya Suresh, and several others.