Dharman: Rajinikanth Reveals Why Director KS Ravikumar, Sundar C And Cibi Chakravarthi Quit Thalaivar173

Superstar Rajinikanth attended the title launch event of Thalaivar 173, where he addressed the multiple changes in the film's directors.

 
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Rajinikanth breaks silence on multiple director change in Dharman | Image: X

Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan's film has finally gone on floors today. Previously referred to as ‘Thalaivar173’, the team revealed the film has been titled Dharman. Speaking at the film event, megastar Rajinikanth also addressed the elephant in the room about the multiple changes in the directors of the movie.

For the unversed, when the project was announced, KS Ravikumar was mentioned as the director. However, before the film's pre-production, he exited the project, and Sundar C was on board as the director. Shortly after the announcement, Sundar also exited the movie and shared the news via a public post on social media. Finally, Cibi Chakravarthi was brought on board to direct the movie. However, media reports claimed that he too quit the Rajinikanth starrer. 

June 24, 2026

Finally, at the title announcement event, the team of the Rajinikanth starrer announced that Ashwath Marimuthu will be directing the movie, Dharman. Speaking at the event, the star made sure to address the serial changes in directors on the project. As per regional media reports, giving reasons for each of the filmmakers' exit, he mentioned, “First, we wanted to do a film with Ravikumar. It didn’t work out, so we finalised Sundar C. But he had other projects that were delayed, so he told us he’s stepping away. Then we decided on Cibi Chakravarthi.”

He also revealed the story pitched by filmmaker Cibi and confessed, “The story is very good, but it’s a sensitive subject. It’s about a nuclear scientist…about nuclear weapons. Shooting was to take place in Afghanistan and Russia. It’s a nice subject, but very sensitive and time-consuming. So, we postponed the project and finalised the film with Ashwath Marimuthu.”

June 24, 2026

Speaking at the event, the director Ashwath confessed that he is a big fan of Rajinikanth and met with the actor before they went together to pitch the movie to the producer Kamal Haasan. 

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Published By : Shreya Pandey

Published On: 24 June 2026 at 16:18 IST