Aditi Rao Hydari to team up with director Rajesh M Selva

On Thursday, makers announced that Thoongavanam-fame director Rajesh M Selva is all set to direct Aditi Rao Hydari for his next film. Billed to be a high-octane drama, the film went on floors on Thursday. Allu Aravind is producing this yet-to-be-titled film under his banner Aha Studios. 

While it is still too early to reveal the plot, director Rajesh says that the film's one-liner is very simple. "We are trying to bring in a lot of interesting elements in the screenplay. The film will have all kinds of features including friendship, family, romance, etc," he explains. 

As opposed to his first two films Thoongavanam and Kadaram Kondaan- which were action thrillers- this film is an emotional drama. "So far, I have earned the reputation of only doing good action thrillers. For once, I thought of bringing in the thriller aspect with an emotional drama film," he says adding that he wishes to break the stereotype of being just an action-thriller filmmaker. "With this film, and my next, which is a comedy, I wish to experiment with genres other than thrillers," he mentions. 

While Aditi Rao Hydari plays the lead, the film also stars Ketika Sharma and Anson Paul. When asked about his casting choices, Rajesh says, "Well, Aditi is a brilliant actor and she is the face of the film. When you watch the film, you will realise why I chose Ketika Sharma and Anson Paul for the cast." Further, he also reveals that there are two other Tamil actors, who are yet to be named. "Their appearance in the film will really add to the 'wow' factor of the audience."

This upcoming drama film is Rajesh's second collaboration with Allu Aravind. The director's first web series, Irai, was an Aha original. Sharing how the collaboration happened one more time, he narrates, "Just before the release of Irai, Allu Aravind sir called me to his house and appreciated me for the series. He said that he wanted to produce a film for me that will bring me huge success. That's how this collaboration happened, and he has only been supportive ever since."

The technical crew of this Rajesh directorial comprises Sunoj Velayudham cranking the camera, Kathir on the edit and Simon K King composing the music. 

The film's shoot is set to take place in Delhi and Chennai. "We have only planned 3 shoot schedules for the film," says the director. The makers are yet to announce a release window for the film.