Is Vijay's Thalapathy inspired by Kamal Haasan's National Award winning film?

Kamal Haasan and Vijay
Is Vijay remaking Kamal Haasan's hit movie? PR Handout

The shooting of Vijay's upcoming movie, which is presently referred to as Thalapathy 64, is progressing at a brisk pace in New Delhi. Actress-singer Soundarya Jayakumar is the latest celebrity to join the filming in the capital city of Tamil Nadu.

The upcoming movie is directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj of Maanagaram and Kaithi fame. Both his movies have won a lot of appreciation for its content and its execution. So, the expectations are naturally high when he teams up with a star of Vijay's calibre.

Even as the shooting is in progress, there comes an interesting rumour about the storyline of Thalapathy 64. Well, the latest buzz is that the movie was inspired by Kamal Haasan's 1994 film Nammavar, which had won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil and Second Prize of Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film.

After finding close similarities between the two movies, Vijay advised Lokesh Kanagaraj to meet Kamal Haasan to acquire the remake rights to be on the safer side and to avoid any legal issues in the future, the reports say.

However, a source from the film unit has denied any such reports to a website stating that Thalapathy 64 has no connection with the Kamal Haasan's film. In fact, Lokesh Kanagaraj has come up with a fresh story which has impressed Vijay.

Kamal Haasan's Nammavar, which had Gauthami in the female lead, was about a revolutionary history lecturer who tries to reform a downtrodden college.

Thalapathy 64 has Malavika Mohanan playing the female lead. Andrea Jeremiah has an interesting role. Antony Varghese, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Sriman, Sanjeev, Srinath, Ramya Subaramaniam and others are in the cast.