Mankatha is an upcoming Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu.
It will feature Tamil superstar Ajith Kumar in the lead role along with an ensemble cast including Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and Anjali.
Mankatha is an upcoming Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu.
It will feature Tamil superstar Ajith Kumar in the lead role along with an ensemble cast including Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and Anjali.
The film officially commenced on 2 August 2010 with the formal launch and a simple pooja held at the AVM Studios, Chennai, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's 18th anniversary of his entry into the film industry.
The story of the film revolves around a Mafia gang gambling during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket season.
Trisha plays the female lead opposite Ajith in the film.
The filming was held for more than eight months and once started took place primarily across Chennai, the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and Bangkok, Thailand.
The appearance of an ensemble star cast is being touted as the first of its kind in the Tamil film industry.
Prabhu had written three scripts for Ajith, out of which the actor chose Mankatha, in which he would portray a character "with grey shades".
Director Prabhu has termed the film as "male-oriented", attaching less importance and significance to the female characters in the film.
The film's initial title was Mangaatha, derived from a popular traditional card game.
Later it was changed to the current Mankatha to conform to principles of numerology.
In June 2011, reports emerged that the film was a remake of the 2008 Hindi film Jannat that was also based on match fixing. However, both director Venkat Prabhu and producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri have denied this.
Actress Lakshmi Rai also stars in the film.
The actress said that her role is an important one in the film, and it is her character that actually brings in the twist in the film.
The score and soundtrack of Mankatha were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, making it his fourth collaboration with Venkat Prabhu and Ajith Kumar.
The film is produced and distributed by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies, while Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed the musical score and soundtrack.
