Shortly after thanking Rajinikanth, among others, for teaching him what cinema is all about, Dude director Keerthiswaran suggested that old Rajinikanth films are a source of inspiration for his latest film, starring Pradeep Ranganathan in the lead role. In an interview with Sudhir Srinivasan, Keerthiswaran said that heroism is not about bashing up ten people but rather doing something for someone selflessly. "That is what makes us heroes. There is one person like that in our families who does selfless acts without letting us know what they want in return, but we do not stop them," said the filmmaker. He added that Rajinikanth's characters in his old films have that sacrificial quality, and that the actor's fans do not practice it well enough in their lives.
Earlier, Pradeep said that his titular character in Dude is an altruistic person. "Dude is a cool character, one who draws satisfaction from others' happiness," the actor said at a recent promotional event for the film.
Described as a Gen Z romantic comedy, Dude marks Premalu star Mamitha Baiju's debut in Tamil cinema. The film also stars Sarathkumar, Rohini, Neha Shetty, and Hridhu Haroon, among others. The film hit theatres as a Diwali release, alongside Mari Selvaraj-Dhruv Vikram's Bison and Harish Kalyan-Athulya Ravi's Diesel, among other films.
