In a surprising turn of events, director Sundar C has officially stepped down from Thalaivar 173, the highly anticipated film that was set to unite Tamil cinema legends Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.
The film, produced by Kamal Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI), was announced earlier this year with much fanfare. Sundar C was chosen to direct the project, which promised to be one of the biggest collaborations in Tamil cinema history.
Khushboo Sundar’s social media post, which has since been deleted, was the first place the news was shared. It confirmed that Sundar C had dropped out. The director wrote in his heartfelt statement: “I’ve had to make the hard choice to step back from the prestigious project Thalaivar 173 because of things that came up that I couldn’t have predicted.”
This project really was a dream come true for me. He went on to say, “In life, there are times when we have to follow the path that is set for us, even if it doesn’t match our dreams.”
“Sundar C didn’t say why he was leaving, but he did apologize to fans for letting them down and say how much he respected Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. He called the chance “an honor of a lifetime.”
RKFI has yet to announce a replacement director or comment on how this change will affect the film’s production schedule. The project was supposed to come out on Pongal 2027, but it’s still not clear if it will go ahead with a new director or be put on hold.
