Nayanthara turned a year older on Monday. On the special occasion, the actress announced her new film. Often referred to as the "Lady Superstar" of South Indian cinema, she is set to star in the period action drama Rakkayie, which marks the directorial debut of Senthil Nallasamy. The actress dropped the title teaser on Instagram. In Rakkayie, Nayanthara will take on a powerful, action-packed role, with the film slated for a multi-language release across Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada markets. The caption read, "In a land where justice is but a memory...There lived a mother whose world was her child...But when her daughter's life is threatened by a monster...She does not flee... she does not falter...Instead, she declares war..
The film will be produced by India's MovieVerse Studios, with co-production by Chennai-based Drumsticks Productions, known for projects like Yaanai and Imaikkaa Nodigal. Key technical talent has been assembled for the project, including composer Govind Vasantha, cinematographer Gautham Rajendran, and editor Praveen Antony.
The announcement of Rakkayie comes at a time when Nayanthara is in the midst of controversy surrounding her Netflix documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. In the documentary, Nayanthara addressed a dispute with producer-actor Dhanush over the use of footage from their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. Nayanthara claimed that Dhanush denied permission to use content from the film and even served her with a legal notice demanding Rs 10 crore (Rs. 100 million) over just three seconds of behind-the-scenes footage.
The documentary, which offers an intimate look at Nayanthara's life and her relationship with her husband, director Vignesh Shivan, also features appearances from other stars like Radhika Sarathkumar, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu and Nagarjuna.