Films starring Tamil stars that were shelved permanently

This list will only include movies that were shelved and not continued or revived later with different stars and crew.

Yohan: Adhyaayam Ondru

Announced as a series amidst huge expectation, the film did not commence once Vijay came to know that GVM did not have the completed script ready. GVM too mentioned that he was not able to tailor the film to Vijay’s tastes. The film has been dropped permanently.

Kettavan

The film that probably started establishing STR as the most infamous bad boy in Tamil. Lekha hinted that STR even harassed her during their time together. Film has been dropped permanently.

Idhu Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam

While many claim that this the film that became Mayakkam enna and/or Irandaam Ulagam, Selvaraghavan has not confirmed it in any interview. The film was supposed to feature Dhanush as a doctor and Andrea as his pair. Film has been dropped permanently.

AC(Arunachalam vs Chitra)

Supposed to be a collab between STR and SJ Suryah. It was expected to be filled to brim with sexual innuendos and risque sequences. This film was even mentioned as a campy reference in STR’s Vallavan, where he even imitates SJ Suryah. Despite glittering poster and hype, the film was permanently dropped soon after shooting started.

Doctors

Another Dhanush film that was shelved after a few sessions was a film that was supposed to expose the reality of being a medical student and a house surgeon in Tamil Nadu. Film has been dropped permanently.

Kaan

Another biggie that simply disappeared into thin air. The shooting did not even start and the only thing we have to remind us of the film is this poster.

Karikaalan

After numerous reports of directors like AL Vijay, Sundar C and KSR being considered. It was reported that an epic film with Vikram in the lead was going to happen with R Kannan. After promising promos and publicity, the film was shelved due to financial reasons and may never be picked up again.

Chennaiyil oru mazhaikaalam

GVM owned the the rights to this title and floated two movies with different settings with the same title. The first one touted to be an action-romance had Suriya and Asin along with Daniel Balaji. The second one was supposedly a youthful drama starring Trisha, Ashwin and dancer Sathish. Both films were advertised with superb posters boasting typical GVM visuals and music from Harris/ARR. Behindwoods reported that the Suriyah film was dropped due to GVM’s direction of Garshana. The second venture fell out without a trace.

Ithigaasam

Buoyed with the tremendous response that ‘Citizen’ received, SSC and Ajith announced another film on it’s heels to be done again by Saravana Subbiah. Nope. Did not happen. I don’t even know if this poster is real as it shows a sloppy photoshop work on top of a famous Napolean painting.

Khabardar

At the height of his popularity in Telugu, Kamal started an ambitious project with Amitabh speaking about a patient and his doctor. The film was dropped after Amitabh walked out citing a weaker role compared to Kamal.

Charumathi

One of Ajith’s earliest films, Charumathi had everything going for it. The film was dropped after Ajith walked out for reasons that are not clear till date.

Mariyappan

Dhanush and Aiswarya announced a movie on Indian paralympic gold medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu when his name was doing the rounds in all news. The film vanished in a matter of days after Dhanush apparently dropped the film due to lack of interest in it commercially.

Sabaash Naidu

A film that I feel was announced on a whim, Sabaash Naidu was never going to take off given Kamal’s sudden political entry and the fact that he was also listed as the producer for it. The spin-off film was to be based on Balram Naaidu, a role from Kamal’s own Dasavathaaram. Legendary Telugu comedian Brahmaanandan was touted to play the role of Apparao that was originally played by Master Raghuram, who passed away in 2013.

Magaa

Ajith’s first cop role was supposed to be Magaa from Nandha Periyasaamy. Tragically Ajith injured himself on the 9th day of shoot and could not shoot further, letting the project die a slow death. The director was crushed due to this, but finally went on to do ‘Oru kalooriyin kadhai’. Reports later said Ajith’s Anjaneya was basically Magaa, but director ‘Vallarasu’ Maharajan clarified that both were different scripts.

Sangamithra

Sundar C’s dream project was brought up after the success of Baahubali 1. Photos with Jayam Ravi in the lead were released to build hype. Khusbhoo and Sundar later shelved the project due to lack of funds(from Thenaandaal) and issues with actors dates. Sundar later clarified that the project was only shelved and not dropped.

Soodhadi

The dream combo of Vetrimaaran-Dhanush announced a project titled Soodhadhi, sending their fans into a frenzy. Shooting carried on at a brisk pace for ten days after which it was suddenly dropped with no clarification. Parthiban was signed to play a crucial role. The project may never resume shooting.

Thiruda

Yet another Ajith film that was shelved is Thiruda, where he was signed to play a doctor. Shaji Kailash was to direct the film, which was quickly shelved. The duo went on to do the terrible ‘Jana’ around the same time.

Vettai Mannan

Yet another STR film to bite the dust was Vettaimannan, which was announced with a slick trailer featuring a copied version of ‘I am a man’ sound track, which was also featrued in Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla trailer. Oh yeah, the film never took off.

Thirudan Police

Cinematographer Arvind Krishna, who was a close associate of Dhanush and Selvaraghavan floated a movie titled ‘Thirudan police’ with Dhanush ghost-producing in his sister’s name. The film was not even publicized a lot and was unceremoniously shelved. Bummer as Arvind krishna had also worked with ace director/cinematographer PC Sreeram.

Marudhanaayagam

How can I miss the mention of possibly the most ambitious film in India cinema history? Kamal’s dream project Marudhanayagam was publicized with loads of posters and a few promotional videos. Kamal at one stage had already spent 30 crores on the film in less than a 30 days shooting schedule. He finally had to give up after losing his life’s earnings. The project is languishing in development hell and is still not yet dead. But I am sure that the project that Kamal recently said had to be ‘India’s answer to Troy and Red Cliff’ may never happen, much to the disappointment of fans.

My Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX9H8rJ5aQR-oQqpbVQ0EqA