Aegan

Aegan (Tamil:ஏகன்) is a forthcoming Tamil feature film currently being directed by Raju Sundaram, who with Aegan will direct his maiden film. Ajith Kumar acts in the lead role, whilst Nayantara, Navdeep, Suhasini Ratnam, Nassar and Jayaram also play roles in the film. The film, which has been under production since late 2007, has Yuvan Shankar Raja as the music composer. The film, produced by Ayngaran International, is set to be released on August 15, 2008 coinciding with Indian independance day.

Development

In September 2007, early indications suggested that Ayngaran International were set to make a film starring Ajith Kumar directed by Venkat Prabhu the chance went to first-time director Raju Sundaram, in a project titled Akbar. Despite denying the title, Ajith confirmed the project and stating that he had put on weight and grew a beard for his participation in the project. Following the success of Billa, Ajith Kumar waited till the birth of his first child, in January 2008, prior to commencing his shoot for the film. The 40-member unit consisting of Ajith, director Raju Sundaram, cameraman Arjunan, action choreographer Stun Shiva and a few stunt men from Chennai flew to Hong Kong on January 14, 2008 and began their first schedule for a 10 day stint.

The portions in Hong Kong were shot showing Ajith's introduction stunt scene set against the sky-scrapers, Hong Kong airport and the sea with the help of Chinese action choreographers. The crew will be shooting schedules in Theni and Ooty and various other locations in South India during the filming, whilst songs will be canned in England, Australia and New Zealand.^[5][6] The film, initially described as a "musical action comedy", has been announced as a remake of the Bollywood blockbuster, Main Hoon Na film previously referred to as Akbar, Ramakrishnan and Anthony Gonsalves is now titled Aegan, a name of Lord Shiva.

Casting

Following the announcement of the project, tentiatively titled as Akbar, Shriya Saran was rumoured to be the heroine, following her successful role in Sivaji: The Boss. However due to differences, Saran was ousted from the project due to her limited callsheets, as she had to fly to and from America where she was then shooting for her Hollywood film, The Other End of the Line. However other indications claimed that Saran was ousted from the project due to her involvement in Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan, in which she appeared in an item number; which Ajith Kumar was unhappy with due to previous feuds with the lead, Vadivelu of that film. Reports indicated that Parvati Melton had replaced Saran, but later denied it signalling that she was not approached. Suhani Kalita was announced as the second heroine of the project, but was later removed due to unknown reasons. Several Bollywood heroines including Deepika Padukone,Bipasha Basu Katrina Kaif, Ayesha Takia, Ileana D'Cruz, Tanushree Dutta and Sneha were linked to the role, as well as reports that Shriya Saran would reprise the role after making up with Ajith. role eventually was given to Katrina Kaif, who was set to make her debut in Tamil films with Aegan, however she later opted out due to callsheet clashes. It was announced that Nayantara would play the role of the heroine in the film, following her role opposite Ajith in Billa. it has been indicated that Namitha, Mumaith Khan and Rakhi Sawant will all appear in an item number in the film. In February 2008, it was confirmed that Navdeep would play a role in the film as well as Suman, who will appear in a villainous role. Malayalam actor, Jayaram will also play a role in the film, which will be co-produced by actor, Arun Pandian.

Nassar and Suhasini Ratnam were selected to play the roles of the parents of Ajith whilst Raju Sundaram's elder brother, Prabhu Deva was given a chance to make a cameo appearance in the film as a dancer. Supporting actors M. S. Baskar and Sriman also play roles in Aegan, as does newcomer model Piya, who appears as the ladylove to Navdeep. Yuvan Shankar Raja was signed on as the music composer whilst debutant Arjunan was given the opportunity to be the cinematographer for the and Milan, who did the art direction for Billa, renews his association with Ajith in the film.