Master (2020 film)

Master is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action-thriller film[1][2][3] written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, and produced by Xavier Britto, under the banner XB Film Creators. The film stars Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi in the leading roles whilst Malavika Mohanan, Arjun Das, Andrea Jeremiah and Shanthanu Bhagyaraj play supporting roles.[4] The music for the film is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, whilst cinematography and editing are handled by Sathyan Sooryan and Philomin Raj, respectively. The film will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam languages.[5][6] The film was initially scheduled to release theatrically on 9 April 2020, but indefinitely got postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Master
Promotional poster
Directed byLokesh Kanagaraj
Produced byXavier Britto
Written byLokesh Kanagaraj
Rathna Kumar
Pon Parthiban
StarringVijay
Vijay Sethupathi
Music byAnirudh Ravichander
CinematographySathyan Sooryan
Edited byPhilomin Raj
Production
company
XB Film Creators
Distributed bySeven Screen Studios
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Cast

Director Lokesh Kanagaraj and co-writer Rathna Kumar made cameo appearances in a section of the movie.[31]

Production

Development

In August 2019, director Lokesh Kanagaraj tweeted that he would be working with Vijay in a film produced by Xavier Britto, Vijay's relative.[32] Along with the news, he revealed some of the crew that will work on the film, with Anirudh Ravichander being approached as the music director and Silva for stunt choreography. Sathyan Sooryan and Philomin Raj were retained as the cinematographer and editor respectively for this film, after previously collaborated on director's Kaithi.[33]

Casting

After Vijay Sethupathi was signed as the antagonist, the profile of the project increased.[34] The cast additions included Malavika Mohanan,[35] Shanthanu Bhagyaraj[12] and Antony Varghese, with the latter making his Tamil debut.[36] Varghese later opted out of the project, citing scheduling conflicts. He was later replaced by Arjun Das, who was a part of Lokesh's previous venture, Kaithi.[10] Andrea Jeremiah also signed to be a part of the film.[37] Raveena Ravi dubbed for Mohanan in the film.[38] Actor Kathir's father made his acting debut with this film.[39]

Filming

Principal photography began with a traditional pooja ceremony on 3 October 2019.[40] On 4 October 2019, director Rathna Kumar posted on Twitter that he was co-writing the screenplay for this project along with Lokesh.[41] Pon Parthiban, who previously colloborated with Kanagaraj in Kaithi, was signed to co-write the screenplay with Kanagaraj and Kumar.[42] The film's shooting was wrapped up on 29 February 2020.[43]

Music
Main article: Master (soundtrack)

The film's soundtrack album and background music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his second collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi (2014), and his first collaboration with Lokesh Kanagaraj. The album features twelve tracks with five of them releasing as singles . The audio was released at a launch event held on 15 March 2020, at The Leela Palace Hotel in Chennai, with a live telecast being held on Sun TV.[44] The album received positive response from critics.

Release

The film was originally scheduled to hit screens on 9 April 2020 but got postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[45]

Marketing

The film's first look poster was released on 31 December 2019, coinciding with New Year's Eve. The film's official title revealed in the picture and featuring actor Vijay staring at the camera with an intense look.[46] The second look poster was released on Thai Pongal Day, 15 January 2020, featuring a picture of group of boys facing the other way with Vijay in the middle making a silencing gesture.[47] The third look poster was released on 26 January 2020 coinciding with India's Republic Day, featuring both actors Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi staring each other in an intense look.[48] The first look posters for the Telugu and Kannada versions of the film were released on 13 March 2020. The posters were near identical to the Tamil first look poster, but also included Vijay with a cat shown from his behind.[49]

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV Network, which secured the television rights in all languages, whereas the digital rights of the film were sold to Prime Video.[50]

Controversies

Income tax raid

On 5 February 2020, the Income Tax Department raided Vijay's residence in Chennai and inquired about potential tax evasion, regarding his investment in immovable properties which he inherited from the production studio AGS Entertainment. Vijay was investigated when he was busy shooting for Master in Neyveli.[51] Nearly ₹65 crore was seized by the officials from the AGS Entertainment producer and film financer Anbu Cheliyan's residence.[52][53] Later, the I-T department said that nothing significant was found during the raid and Vijay has paid all taxes.[54] Member of the parliament Dayanidhi Maran accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politically targeting Vijay through IT raids because he was critical of the BJP.[55][56]

Protests by Bharatiya Janata Party

On 7 February 2020, members of the BJP protested in front of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) where the shooting of Master was going on. The BJP members protested against the NLC administration for granting permission for the shoot.[57] Although the film crew had obtained permission for the shoot, the members of the BJP claimed that it is a highly secured area and it's not a place for a movie shoot and also threatened to continue their protests if the shooting did not stop.[58] Soon, Vijay's fans started to arrive in numbers and protested against the party workers. The protesters and the fans left after intervention by the police.[59]

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References
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  7. "Vijay's character name in Master revealed!". The Times of India.
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  9. "Thalapathy 64 actress Malavika Mohanan jets off on a vacation after wrapping up fight scenes with co-star Vijay Sethupathi – Times of India". The Times of India.
  10. "Master (2020 film): Antony Varghese out, Kaithi star Arjun Das hops on board". India Today.
  11. Subramanian, Anupama (30 October 2019). "Andrea joins Thalapathy Yogi Babu 64". Deccan Chronicle.
  12. "Shanthnu Bhagyaraj to join Thalapathy 64? – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
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  15. 15 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு பின் விஜய் உடன் இணையும் நாகேந்திர பிரசாத் – Nagendra Prasad – Vijay together after 15years. Cinema.dinamalar.com (7 December 2019). Retrieved on 2020-02-22.
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  48. 'Master' Third Look Is So Terrific. Thehansindia.com (26 January 2020). Retrieved on 2020-02-22.
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