Leading Tamil actor Dhanush's Raayan is set to come out this year and the wait is now on for the film's release date to be announced. The upcoming film has a multi-star cast featuring SJ Suryah, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, Selvaraghavan, Prakash Raj, Dushara Vijayan, Aparna Balamurali, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, and Saravanan in pivotal roles, while the songs and the background are being composed by Academy Award-winning music director A. R. Rahman. Raayan, which is currently one of the biggest and most promising Tamil films of 2024, almost featured 'Thenisai Thendral' Deva as the villain, with the iconic composer on Sunday, April 14, revealing the reason for declining the role.
Addressing media persons on the festive occasion of Tamil New Year, Deva opened up on the reason for not acting as the antagonist in Dhanush's Raayan. He said, "I called and asked Dhanush why he wanted me to cast me as the villain. He said, 'There won't be anyone like you in Chennai who can speak Madras Bashai. You speak the local dialect so beautifully.' The character's roots are from the Kasimedu area in Chennai and is the reason why he wanted me as the villain in the film." He added, "I'll say one thing - one who lets go a job he knows will suffer and one who takes up a job he doesn't know will also endure hardships." Raayan will see Dhanush, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, and Dushara Vijayan as siblings, with reports stating that SJ Suryah is playing the villain.
With filming on Raayan wrapped up already and post-production works currently underway, all sights are now set on the film's first single, which has been announced to release soon and there is considerable excitement for what A. R. Rahman has in store for fans this time. The film is incidentally the fifth collaboration for the duo after Raanjhanaa (2013), Maryan (2013), and Atrangi Re (2021), while their next big Bollywood project Tere Ishk Mein under Aanand L. Rai's direction is also currently in development. Raayan is billed to be a gangster action drama set amidst the North Madras backdrop and Dhanush's second directorial after Pa Paandi (2017), and there are huge expectations for the two-time National Award-winning actor to come out firing on all cylinders.
