The film was officially announced in January 2022 under the tentative title #SK21, as it is Sivakarthikeyan's 21st film as the lead actor, and the official title was announced in February 2024. Principal photography commenced in May 2023. It is currently being occurred spoardically in several legs, with filming locations including Kashmir, Chennai, Pondicherry and Puducherry. The film has music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography handled by CH Sai and editing by R. Kalaivanan.
After the release of Rangoon in 2017, Rajkumar Periyasamy began working on a project, which would be funded by Kamal Haasan and R. Mahendran under Raaj Kamal Films International. It was set to be Rajkumar's second directorial and second collaboration with Haasan after they previously collaborated for a reality show, hosted by Haasan, however, the director changed his mind after he was suggested by Vakil Khan to read one of the chapters from the book series India's Most Fearless by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh, about MajorMukund Varadarajan. Khan further suggested him to make a biography film about the Major, and that he can secure the rights of the book from Sony Pictures Films India, headed by Vivek Krishnani, who would give the rights and fund the venture. Rajkumar told Haasan about the biography film and asked the latter if they could put their venture on hold; which led to Haasan agreeing to his request and also himself requesting to jointly fund the biography with Sony Pictures Films India.[3][4]
Sivakarthikeyan was signed on to portray the role of Mukund Varadarajan in late December 2021.[5][6] The actor and Rajkumar has had a history of collaboration, with them before being introduced in the cinema industry, joining hands together for private Tamil channels and many projects and shows.[7] On 15 January 2022, Raaj Kamal Films International and Sony Pictures Films India publicly announced their jointly produced project, through their respective social media accounts, under the tentative titles #SK21 and Production #51–for the former company.[8][9] Vakil Khan, who suggested the director to make the film, served as the co-producer, and the film's official title, Amaran, was revealed on 16 February 2024,[10] coinciding the eve of Sivakarthikeyan's birthday and with them also have gained permission from the makers of the 1992 film of the same name.[11] The film's status of being a biography of Major Mukund Varadarajan was not disclosed until the title reveal.[12]
Pre-production
Rajkumar, a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic, visited Varadarajan's family and gained information's about the latter's life. During an interview with Ananda Vikatan, he stated that he gained many information from many perspectives, which helped alot to form the screenplay of the film. Initially, Rajkumar and Haasan scouted for a debut to portray Varadarajan. Until, Mahendran, co-header of Raaj Kamal Films International, suggested Sivakarthikeyan to portray him. To which, Rajkumar forward suggested it to Haasan, and him agreeing.[4] A muhurat puja was held on 5 May 2023 at the headquarters of Raaj Kamal Films International in Chennai with the film's cast and crew, along with Varadarajan's family.[13][14]
Sivakarthikeyan was reported to receive ₹20 crore (US$2.5 million) as his remuneration.[15]G. V. Prakash Kumar was revealed a few days before the muhurat puja to score the music.[16][17] CH Sai, who worked as cinematographer for short film Iruvitham, was signed to handle it in this film, in his feature film debut.[18] R. Kalaivanan was choosen to edit the film, in his fourth venture. Award-winning action director Stefan Richter from Hollywood was finalised as the action choreographer.[19] Periyasamy further chose production designer Rajeevan, dance choreographer Sherif, costume designers Amritha Ram, Sameera Saneesh and V. Sai, and publicity designer Kabilan, for the technical crew.[20][21]
Casting
Sai Pallavi was cast, portraying as Mukund Varadarajan's wife, Indhu Rebecca Varghese. Bhuvan Arora would portray as Sepoy Vikram Singh, Mukund’s colleague.
Sivakarthikeyan underwent intense training for almost a year during the project's pre-production process, to play the role of Major Mukund Varadarajan.[22][23] He also went through a workshop in Mumbai to change his body-language from a soft-spoken, called by Rajkumar, to an Army officer.[24] The actor stated, "I'm honored to portray the role of #MajorMukundVaradarajan", through X (formerly Twitter) during the title teaser reveal.[25][26]Sai Pallavi was cast, pairing opposite Sivakarthikeyan, in her first pairing with the latter.[27] She would play the role of Mukund's wife, Indhu Rebecca Varghese,[28] and was revealed to be a part of the cast on 9 May 2022, coinciding with her birthday.[29][30] She also reportedly received ₹3 crore (US$380,000) as her remuneration.[31]
Bollywood actor Bhuvan Arora was revealed to portray as Sepoy Vikram Singh, Mukund’s colleague, in his debut Tamil film.[32] He stated that his acting was dedicated to his father, who also served in the army.[33][34]Lallu was cast in a pivotal role, in his second collaboration with Periyasamy after Rangoon. He confirmed his inclusion on 9 June 2023,[35] coinciding six years since the release of Rangoon.[36]Rahul Bose was confirmed to play a important role in the film, collaborating with both Sivakarthikeyan and Periyasamy for the first time.[37][38] Ajaey Naga Raaman, Mir Salman, and Gaurav Venkatesh were announced to be a part of the cast on 3 August 2023.[39] During the shooting in Puducherry, a leaked picture of Sivakarthikeyan, Sai Pallavi and said-so daughter in the film was uploaded to social media, which revealed that someone would portray the role of Mukund's daughter, Arsheya.[40]
Principal photography began with the first schedule on 5 May 2023 in Kashmir.[41][42] Shooting went on for almost two weeks, with initially planning being to film there for 55-days. However, as G20 summit was taking place in New Delhi that September, several government events took place across Kashmir instead. For which, due to security reasons, security officials halted the shooting there, and returned to Chennai.[43][44] Filming then resumed by 22 May.[45] According to The Times of India, particular major portions of the film was reportedly shot in the schedule.[46] Sivakarthikeyan returned to Chennai in late May, to participate on the post-production works for his starrer Maaveeran (2023), which included dubbing.[47][48] After a short break, filming continued on 7 June, with Rajkumar announcing it through Instagram.[49] Sivakarthikeyan was said to resume filming his portions a week later, and then return to Chennai in early July for the release of Maaveeran–14 July 2023.[50] On 9 July, Sai Pallavi posted a few stills on Instagram, of her enjoying the landscapes of Kashmir.[51][52] Filming was paused on 15 July,[53][54] and resumed almost a month later, 13 August.
A leaked still of Sivakarthikeyan was released on social media,[55] however, sources close to the makers confirmed that the still was not real and photoshopped.[56][57] On 27 August, it was reported that the schedule had concluded,[58] which was announced on 1 September by the production house. The schedule was shot for 75 working days.[59][60] The second schedule began on 21 October at a film city in Chennai.[61] Portions mainly including Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi was reportedly shot during the schedule, and also a song sequence featuring them.[62] On 9 November, production moved to Pondicherry.[63] During this schedule, family sequences were filmed. Stills of Sivakarthikeyan, Sai Pallavi and reportedly their daughter in the film, which would be Arsheya, Mukund’s daughter, were leaked.[64][65] In late November, reports claimed that 80-percent of filming was completed.[66] Sivakarthikeyan went clean-shave in mid-December for a minor portion of his role, revealing that the film includes portions of Mukund when he was younger.[67] Rajkumar, during an interview with Ananda Vikatan in February 2024, stated that only minor portions of Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi were left.[68]
The music and background score is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, in his maiden collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan and Rajkumar.[71][72] Initially, Prakash was signed to score the music in the Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga (2013), however, due to his prior commitments, he opted out and was replaced with Yuvan Shankar Raja.[73] Jen Martin, who composed the soundtrack for Dada (2023), scored music for the video of the muhurat puja, which released on 5 May 2023. The track featured the vocals of Jen Martin, Sathya Narayanan, Madhuvanthy Ganesh and Ramani, and lyrics penned by Vishnu Edavan.[74][75]
Marketing
The film's teaser trailer was released on 16 February 2024, revealing the film's title.[76] The first look poster released on the same day.[77][78] On 17 February, the day after, coinciding the occasion of Sivakarthikeyan's 39th birthday, the makers released the second look.[79][80]
Release
The Times of India reported that Amaran is scheduled to release in August 2024,[81] after Rajkumar stated that the film is expected to be released in the middle of 2024.[24] The streaming rights were acquired by Netflix. The film is to be released in the Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam languages.[82][83]
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