Sarkar team heads to Las Vegas for a week-long schedule; film on track for Diwali release

Thalapathy Vijay and AR Murugadoss's Sarkar team have air-dashed to the United States to shoot a song and some key scenes in a week-long schedule.

Murugadoss is planning to shoot the song sequence in Las Vegas and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar is expected to join the team later next week to film her portion. The song will be choreographed by Shobi Master, who impressed viewers with his colorful choreography in 2017's most viral Tamil hit Aalapooraan Tamizhanfrom Mersal. The team will camp in the US till 11 August before they come back to Chennai for a brief break. They will then finally kick start the final schedule.

After the completion of the US schedule, the team will have only 10% of portions to shoot. Murugadoss will wrap up the film towards the end of this month after shooting pivotal sequences on the antagonist. In Chennai, the makers have shot important scenes in the Sun Network, Andhra Club premises, and the airport.

Produced by Sun Pictures, Sarkar features Keerthy Suresh, who is currently basking in the glory of Savitri biopic Mahanati, as the female lead. The project marks her second collaboration with Vijay after Bairavaa, which released for the Pongal festival last year.

Sarkar is perfectly on track for Diwali release this year. Sarkar marks Vijay's fifth Diwali release after Velayudham, Thuppakki, Kaththi, and Mersal in the last eight years. The Tamil Nadu theatrical rights of Sarkar have been reportedly acquired by Thenandal Studios, which bankrolled Vijay's 2017 blockbuster Mersal.

In Kerala, one of Vijay's strong territories, the demand for the film's theatrical rights have already started. Global United Media is one of the contenders who is looking to secure the film's rights in the state.

Also starring Yogi Babu, Radharavi, Pala Karuppaiah, and Prem Kumar in crucial roles, Sarkar has cinematography by Girish Gangadharan, known for his stellar work in the breakout Malayalam indie blockbuster Angamaly Diaries. Jeyamohan, who has worked in Mani Ratnam's Kadal, Rajinikanth's 2.0 and Kamal Haasan's Papanasam, has co-written the film's dialogues along with AR Murugadoss. Multiple national award-winning senior editor Sreekar Prasad and art director Santhanam, primarily known for his work in Selvaraghavan's Aayirathil Oruvan, form the technical crew.

"We all know how AR Murugadoss operates. His films would always a nice social angle to it. Vijay is doing an excellent job. He's very involved in it," Sreekar Prasad had told goldminespvtltd4. Murugadoss has already said that Sarkar will be an emotionally-driven film.

Meanwhile, we have learned from reliable sources that Vijay's next film Thalapathy 63 will go sooner on floors than expected. The yet-untitled project will be directed by Atlee and produced by AGS Entertainment. AR Rahman is in talks to compose the music for the project, which marks Atlee's third consecutive collaboration with Vijay after Theri and Mersal.