Kamal Haasan begins shooting Sandiyar on his 72nd birthday, with Anirudh and Anbariv on board
Kamal Haasan's next film Sandiyar, formerly KH237 and directed by S U Arun Kumar, started filming on his 72nd birthday, a day after a blood-soaked first look. Anirudh scores, Anbariv handle action.
Kamal Haasan has given himself the best kind of birthday present: a camera rolling. His next film, Sandiyar, went on floors on 7 November 2026, the day the actor turned 72, a day after his banner Raaj Kamal Films International unveiled the title and first look. The film, known until now as KH237, is directed by S U Arun Kumar and promises a gritty revenge drama set in Madurai. No release date has been announced yet.
What the first look tells us
The poster skips the glossy hero shot. Instead, we get a blood-stained setting, a handgun and the actor's hand gripping the window of a vehicle, all under a tagline that does not mince words: "Revenge can only be settled in blood." The production house marked the big day with a simple, all-caps "SHOOT BEGINS TODAY" along with birthday wishes for its founder. If you were hoping for a soft, reflective late-career drama, this is not that film.
It is also the first time Kamal Haasan and Arun Kumar are working together. The director has built a quietly impressive filmography: Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, Sethupathi, Sindhubaadh, the much-praised Chithha and the Vikram-starrer Veera Dheera Sooran. On the first day of the shoot, he shared an emotional note about standing alongside an artist who had shaped his work, and thanked the producers for making it happen.
A crew built for violence (the cinematic kind)
The technical line-up reads like a wish list for anyone who loves a well-made action film:
- Music: Anirudh Ravichander, back with Kamal Haasan after Vikram and Indian 2
- Action: National Award-winning stunt duo Anbariv
- Cinematography: Sunil K S
- Production design: C S Balachander
- Costumes: Amritha Ram
- Producers: Kamal Haasan and R Mahendran, with S Disney as co-producer, under Raaj Kamal Films International
Anirudh and Anbariv together on a Kamal Haasan film should ring a loud bell. That combination last worked together on Indian 2 in 2024, and before that gave us Vikram, which turned a 60-something actor into the most dangerous man in Tamil cinema and filled theatres across India in 2022. The rest of the cast, including the female lead, has not been announced.
A title with a 22-year back story
Long-time fans will recognise the name. Sandiyar was the title Kamal Haasan originally picked for his 2004 rural drama, which ran into objections from some groups and was renamed Virumaandi before release. That film went on to become one of the most admired entries in his filmography, a raw, Rashomon-style story of violence and justice in southern Tamil Nadu. Reviving the name more than two decades later, for another rural revenge story, feels like the actor finishing a sentence he started in 2004.
What it means for you
There is nothing to book yet. Sandiyar is a theatrical release and the makers have not fixed a date, a release window or a streaming partner, so treat any date doing the rounds on WhatsApp with suspicion. Expect the first proper look at footage, and likely the first Anirudh single, as the shoot progresses. In the meantime, Vikram and Virumaandi make for an excellent weekend double bill to understand exactly what this team is chasing.
The FHM take
At 72, Kamal Haasan could coast on legacy. Instead he has picked one of the sharpest young directors in Tamil cinema, the composer and stunt team behind his biggest modern hit, and a title he was not allowed to use 22 years ago. A grey-haired, gun-holding Kamal in a Madurai revenge saga is exactly the kind of mass-meets-craft cinema we want more of. Keep this one on your radar.
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