Suriya 44

Suriya 44
Announcement poster
Directed by	Karthik Subbaraj
Written by	Karthik Subbaraj
Produced by	Karthik Subbaraj Karthekeyan Santhanam Kalyan Subramaniam Suriya Jyothika
Starring	Suriya Pooja Hegde
Cinematography	Shreyaas Krishna
Edited by	Shafique Mohamed Ali
Music by	Santhosh Narayanan
Production companies	Stone Bench Films 2D Entertainment
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Suriya 44 is the working title of an upcoming Indian Tamil-language film written, directed, and co-produced by Karthik Subbaraj. The film stars Suriya and Pooja Hegde, with Jayaram, Karunakaran and Joju George in supporting roles.

The film was officially announced in March 2023 under the tentative title Suriya 44, as it is the actor's 44th film as the lead actor, along with the tagline Love, Laughter and War. Principal photography commenced in June 2024 in Port Blair. The film will have music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, cinematography handled by Shreyaas Krishna and editing by Shafique Mohamed Ali.

Cast

• Suriya
• Pooja Hegde
• Jayaram
• Karunakaran
• Joju George

Production

Development

The film is the first collaboration of Suriya and Karthik Subbaraj.

In late 2021, director Karthik Subbaraj and actor Suriya began having a discussion for a potential collaboration between the two in the future. Although they had finalised to collaborate back then, both's respective prior commitments delayed the beginning of the project's production process. Following two-and-a-half years later, on 28 March 2024, Karthik announced through his social media accounts that he would join hands with Suriya for his directorial venture after Jigarthanda DoubleX (2023). The project would be jointly funded by Karthik, Karthekeyan Santhanam, Kalyan, Subramaniam and Jyothika under their respective headed production houses, Stone Bench Creations and 2D Entertainment. The makers kept the project secret until its announcement. Announced under the working title Suriya 44 with the tagline Love, Laughter and War, the production process was set to begin after the actor completes his commitments to his film with Sudha Kongara, also known as Suriya 43 and Puranaanooru. A few days later, it was reported that since the start of Kongara's film would take a few more months, they were planning to complete the shooting of the project by then.

Pre-production

Karthik had met Suriya prior to the shooting of Jigarthanda DoubleX and narrated a one-liner, which the latter requested to develop. It took him several months for the writing and pre-production. After Jigarthanda DoubleX release, Karthik narrated the entire script to the actor.

Santhosh Narayanan and Tirru were reported in late April to handle the film's score and cinematography respectively, in their respective eighth and third collaboration with Karthik. On the occasion of his birthday (15 May), Santhosh was announced to be a part of the film by the production house, in his eighth collaboration with the director. Instead of Tirru, Shreyaas Krishna was revealed to handle the cinematographer on 29 May, in his third collaboration with Karthik after Jagame Thandhiram (2021) and Mahaan (2022). In addition to Krishna, the technical crew of art director Jacki, editor Shafique Mohamed Ali, stunt choreographer Kecha Khamphakdee, and costume designer Praveen Raja were announced the same day.

In May 2024, the team shot the promotional video for the film for nearly three days. Casting call was announced by the makers in late April 2024. Prior to starting the first shooting schedule, the team had constructed a set at Port Blair located in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, for filming an action sequence.

Casting

Pooja Hegde was cast to play the lead actress role, pairing opposite Prabhas for the first time. Jayaram was cast in an important role.

Suriya would sport a Fu Manchu moustache and mullet look for his role in the film. Pooja Hegde was reported to have been cast for the lead actress role, pairing opposite Suriya, in her first film with the latter and Karthik. Her inclusion was announced on 1 June by the production house. In her third Tamil film after Mugamoodi (2012) and Beast (2022), she would reportedly receive ₹4 crore (US$480,000) as her remuneration.

Vijay Kumar and Jayaram were also reported being part of the cast, with the former reportedly playing the main antagonist role. The latter was confirmed being part of the cast during his arrival for the film's shooting. Karunakaran and Joju George were also cast to play prominent roles, with the former marking his fourth collaboration with Karthik after Pizza (2012), Jigarthanda (2014) and Iraivi (2016), and latter marking his second collaboration with director after Jagame Thandhiram.

Filming

Port Blair, where parts of the film were shot.

Suriya, Hegde and Jayaram headed to Andaman for the film's shooting schedule on 1 June 2024. Principal photography began on 2 June at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The team started shooting action sequences at a specially erected set, which were choreographed by Kecha Khamphakdee. A song shoot would also happen in this schedule, which would reportedly end in 30 days. Following the Andaman schedule, they are also planning to shoot in Ooty and Chennai.

Music

The music and background score is composed by Santhosh Narayanan, in his first collaboration with Suriya; eighth with Karthik.

Release

The UK distribution rights were reportedly acquired by Ahimsa Entertainment.

External links

• Suriya 44 at IMDb