Lokesh Kanagaraj appears to have kickstarted the trend of filmmakers having their very own cinematic universe. However, not many know, that director Hari harboured a similar vision back in 2013. Ahead of the release of his next project Rathnam, Hari opened up about his cinematic universe which never saw the light of day, as well as the reason behind it.

Singam 3 was supposed to be a part of Hari's own cinematic universe

Action thriller Singam 3, starring Suriya, Shruti Haasan and Anushka Shetty, released in theatres back in 2017. The film was intended to feature a sequence linking together a separate cop film directed by Hari - the Vikram starrer Saamy - which released back in 2003. In a conversation with Cineulagam's YouTube channel, Hari revealed how Singam 3 was intended to have a scene where Vikram's Aarunchamy would meet up with Suriya's Durai Singam. 

This vision however, never materialised. If Hari would have been able to translation his vision on to the screen, India would have had its first cinematic universe way prior to the birth of Lokesh Kanagaraj's LCU. The Lokesh Cinematic Universe comprises of films Kaithi (2019) starring Karthi, Vikram (2022) starring Kamal Haasan and Leo (2023) starring Thalapathy Vijay.

Rathnam is set to release by April end

Rathnam is scheduled to release in theatres, come April 26. Directed by Hari, the film will feature actors Vishal and Priya Bhavani Shankar take the lead as Rathnam and Janani respectively. The film will also feature Samuthirakani, Ramachandra Raju, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Yogi Babu, Murali Sharma and Mohan Raman.

Set to be an action entertainer, the musical score for the film has been composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Marking actor Vishal's 34th film on celluloid, Rathnam has been filmed across Thoothukudi, Trichy, Karaikudi, Vellore, Tirupati and Chennai.