A grand pooja signaling the start of production for Vijay's next, Thalapathy 65, was held in Chennai last month, following which the film began shooting at Georgia before the team returned home in the view of the second wave of COVID-19. During the pooja, it was revealed that up-and-coming Malayalam actress Aparna Das had been roped in for the highly-anticipated Vijay-starrer being directed by Nelson Dilipkumar under the Sun Pictures banner. Having said that, another popular Malayalam actor, Shine Tom Chacko, who starred in the lead role opposite Rajisha Vijayan in the critically-acclaimed Love, has now been cast in Thalapathy 65. 

Speaking to Times of India, Shine Tom Chacko said, "I am here for the discussions. The first schedule of the movie’s shoot was already over in Georgia. I guess the next schedule was supposed to start soon, if not for the COVID restrictions. Now the team is thinking about June." He further told TOI, "I’m not fluent in Tamil yet. I check out Tamil films often, and also watch interviews and speeches of Tamil actors like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. Certain words I don’t understand, but overall, I can make sense out of it. That’s it." Shine hopes that he too will be able to quickly learn Tamil as actors from other states and says, "Be it from Telugu, Bollywood or even Malayalam industry, the artistes who work in Kollywood – especially actresses – are able to grasp the language well."

The excitement surrounding Thalapathy 65 is getting bigger each day as the project already has leading South Indian actress Pooja Hegde playing the female lead. The upcoming film touted to be a mass action feast will be Pooja's second film in Tamil after nearly a decade when she made her debut in director Mysskin's Mugamoodi in 2012. Likewise, Thalapathy 65 will also be the third occasion 'Rockstar' Anirudh Ravichander will be churning out tunes after Kaththi and Master. His songs in the Master, which came out in theatres this Pongal, continue to be at the top of the charts even after the album was released more than a year back.