Kaantha has been generating buzz as a period film centered on a yesteryear superstar, with speculation mounting that it is a biopic of MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, Tamil cinema’s first superstar. However, in a recent interview with Galatta Plus, Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati firmly refuted the biopic theory. Dulquer, who has delivered a string of successful period dramas like Sita Ramam and Lucky Baskhar, will portray TK Mahadevan in the film, while Rana plays a police inspector.
Both actors emphasized that Kaantha is fully fictional, noting that any similarities to real-life stories are merely incidental. They clarified that the narrative draws loose ideas from various tales but does not chronicle the life of any specific star, distancing the project from the earlier biopic Mahanati. Dulquer explicitly denied it being a biopic of MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, and Rana added that the film might give a feeling of yesteryear stars’ lives but remains an original story.
Written by Tamizh Prabha and director Selvamani Selvaraj, Kaantha unfolds in 1950s Madras and follows TK Mahadevan’s rise to stardom and his complex relationship with a famed filmmaker. The cast includes Samuthirakani as director Ayya and Bhagyashri Borse as the female lead Kumari. The film is slated for a multilingual theatrical release on November 14, 2025, across Telugu, Hindi, and other languages.
The clarification comes after a legal case filed by MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar’s grandson seeking a ban, alleging the film portrays MK in a negative light. Despite the controversy, the makers maintain that the story is fictional and not a biographical depiction of any real individual.
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