Atlee and Allu Arjun’s pan-Indian project, tentatively titled AA22, has been the talk of the town since yesterday after the team officially announced the project by releasing a promo.
Following the announcement, many Kollywood audiences expressed disappointment, as Atlee—who began his directorial career in Tamil cinema—is now directing films with actors from other industries.
In response, some trade experts commented that this should be a wake-up call for the Kollywood industry. They believe that commercial directors like Atlee and Nelson will continue collaborating with stars from other film industries because Tamil cinema currently lacks big stars capable of leading large-scale pan-Indian projects.
Except for Rajinikanth, who has limitations due to age, and Vijay, who is stepping into full-time politics, there are currently no other major stars in Kollywood with a proven ₹400 crore+ market.
If a big-budget pan-Indian film is to be made by a Kollywood director, there aren’t any actors—apart from Rajini and Vijay—who can command the scale or reach required. This is pushing top Tamil directors to look beyond their home industry.
Apart from Atlee, Nelson Dilipkumar is now in talks to work with NTR for his next project, and Lokesh Kanagaraj is reportedly in discussions with Prabhas.
It remains to be seen which Kollywood actor will rise to fill this void and emerge as a new face capable of carrying massive pan-Indian projects in the future.
