‘Sandiyar’: Kamal Haasan reclaims his controversial title for his next

The Hindu · The Hindu Bureau · 2026-11-06 14:03 UTC

Kamal Haasan's upcoming movie has been titled 'Sandiyar', and it will be directed by SU Arun Kumar

Kamal Haasan’s next film has been titled Sandiyar. The Tamil movie will be directed by SU Arun Kumar of Chithha (2023)and Veera Dheera Sooran (2025) fame.

With this project, Kamal Haasan has reclaimed his controversial movie title. In 2003, the actor-director’s movie was titled Sandiyar. However, Puthiya Tamilagam Party founder K. Krishnaswamy objected to the title, stating the word valorised dominant upper-caste groups and would revive the aruval (sickle) culture.

The film’s shooting was halted. Initially, the actor tried to meet the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, hoping to sort out the issue. However, she did not grant him an audience immediately. Jayalalithaa told journalists that “protracted” police protection cannot be given to a film unit that, according to her, “deliberately chooses a controversial subject.” Eventually, Kamal Haasan dropped the title and renamed his movie Virumandi.

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