Actor Santhanam had a last outing in the likes of director Rathna Kumar’s Gulu Gulu with actress Athulya Chandra as the female lead. The entertainer opened to negative reviews from both the audience and critics. As a result, it ended up doing bad business. But the Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham actor has put that behind him, and is currently busy shooting for his upcoming project titled Agent Kannayiram. The entertainer is the official remake of hit Telugu drama Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya which hit the screens under the direction of story teller Swaroop R. S. J with actor Naveen Polishetty in the lead. Director Manoj Beedha of Vanjagar Ulagam fame is directing the Tamil version. Actress Riya Suman of Seeru fame is playing the female lead role. The shooting for the film has been progressing at a fast pace. Now, amidst his busy schedule director Manoj Beedha has made time to talk about Agent Kannayiram to a leading media house in the state.
Explaining why he chose to remake Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya, he said, “I liked the Telugu movie very much. But I felt that there was not enough attention paid to the emotional aspect of the drama. The entire focus was on the thriller element, and the pace at which it unfolded. While we have retained them in the Tamil version as well, we have also tried to explore the emotional side of the entertainer. In that sense, we should say Agent Kannayiram is the adaptation of the original and not a faithful remake.” Talking about actor Santhanam’s character in the movie, he said, “The moment the audience hears Santhanam’s name, comedy is all they expect. Santhanam is working to break that image. This flick will help him do that. So, his fans can expect to see him in a different shade in Agent Kannayiram.”
It is said that the production house is in plans to wrap the flick soon as they are eyeing to bill it as a summer release. Apart from actors Santhanam and Riya Suman, Agent Kannayiram has actors Sruthi Hariharan, Munishkanth, Redin Kingsley, Pugazh, E. Ramdoss, Indhumathy, Madhan Dhakshinamoorthy, Aadhira, and Vanessa Cruez in various other supporting roles. Music director Yuvan Shankar Raja will be composing music for the entertainer. Cinematographers Theni Eashwar and Saravanan Ramasamy will be cranking the camera for the film. Editor Ajay will be taking care of the editing department. The entertainer is bankrolled by director Manoj Beedha Himself under the banner house Labyrinth Films.
On the work front, actor Santhanam who was last seen on screens in Gulu Gulu is currently busy shooting for Server Sundaram which is filmed by storyteller Anand Balki, and for Kick directed by storyteller Prashant Raj in which he will be seen romancing actress Tanya Hope. On the other hand, actress Riya Suman who was last seen in Tamil in the adult drama Manmadha Leelai is currently busy shooting for her next Telugu project christened MenToo under the direction of Srikanth Reddy Ganta in which she will be sharing the screen space with actor Naresh Agastya, for Top Gear directed by storyteller Aadi Saikumar who also plays the lead role, and for an untitled project. Apart from these ventures, the actress has an English project titled Walking Talking Strawberry Ice Cream helmed by film maker Vinayak V in which she will be co starring with actress Jonita Gandhi.