Prithviraj to undergo intense training for Kaaliyan

Prithviraj will start shooting for Kaaliyan after he winds up his work on Blessy's Aadujeevitham and his own directorial debut, Lucifer. 

According to Kaaliyan's director S Mahesh, they hope to go on the floors by 2019. "We are very busy with the pre-production work now. Prithviraj is likely to start prepping for Kaaliyan after he finishes Lucifer. Since the film is very action-packed, he will have to undergo intense training in martial arts. This is his dream project and he wants to take time to learn the martial art before the filming starts," says the director.

Mahesh adds that they are in talks with action choreographers working on Game of Thrones for Kaaliyan. "We want Kaaliyan to have novel action sequences. That's one reason why we want to rope in the best in the trade," he says.

Mahesh says he has been researching on Northern ballads for some time. "It was the ballads on Iravikuttipillai that intrigued us first. But then, we stumbled on the character of Kaaliyan, who we fleshed out as the lead character. Prithviraj heard the script and was convinced," says Mahesh. The story is set in the time period of 1605-1636.

The team has also roped in Sathyaraj for a significant role. Though he doesn't want to reveal the details of the Tamil actor's role, the filmmaker says it won't be a negative character. "We met Sathyaraj with the script. He loved the narration and immediately expressed an interest in the film."

However, the director clarifies that Kaaliyan won't be high on visual effects. "Unlike Baahubali, the grandeur of which relied a lot on visual effects, Kaaliyan will be a realistic movie. We will give it a very realistic touch," he says.

The director adds that casting is very important, so they plan to hold an audition and workshop. "Kaaliyan is a period drama. We are planning to hold a workshop so that people who are selected for the project get a flavour of the film."

Kaaliyan will have Bollywood composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy in the music department. Sujith Vassudev will handle the cinematography for the project produced under the banner of Magicmoon Productions.