Karthik Subbaraj And Rana Daggubati Team Up For New Production ‘Neelira’ 

Karthik Subbaraj announced the 18th film of his production house, made in collaboration with Rana Daggubati's Spirit Media.

Team THR India
By Team THR India
LAST UPDATED: MAR 16, 2026, 14:34 IST|4 min read
The poster of ‘Neelira’ 
The poster of ‘Neelira’ 

Filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj and Rana Daggubati have come on board to collaborate on a new film. The surprise announcement saw Subbaraj's production company, Stone Bench, joining hands with Daggubati's Spirit Media for the new film titled Neelira.

Written and directed by Someetharan, with music by K, the film will release on April 3 this year. The film has been shot by Selvarathnam Pratheepam and Radha Sridha is on board as the editor.

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The makers had earlier announced the film featuring a pooja ceremony taking place during a wedding with the backdrop of an automatic gun, ready for action. The poster featured two men holding a gun and a walkie-talkie as we see a group of people settling down during the ceremony.

"And the wedding happens right in the middle of a war," Subbaraj had captioned the post, setting the stage for an exciting setup that marries two distinct worlds and genres. Makers revealed the title of the film with a new poster, writing, "#Neelira ❤️ Based on the memories of a war child..."

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In November last year, Sikhya Entertainment, the Oscar-winning Indian production house behind The Elephant Whisperers, announced its first collaboration with Subbaraj. The yet-untitled feature began filming in Madurai after a traditional pooja ceremony.

The project marks a significant crossover between two of Indian cinema’s most distinctive voices —Monga Kapoor and Achin Jain’s Sikhya Entertainment, known for championing rooted, globally resonant storytelling, and Subbaraj, one of Tamil cinema’s most inventive contemporary directors.

Rathna Kumar’s fourth film as a director, after Gulu Gulu starring Santhanam and Namita Krishnamurthy, will be produced by both Lokesh Kanagaraj and Subbaraj.

Kumar’s short film Madhu, which gained tremendous attention, was included in Subbaraj’s anthology series, Bench Talkies (2015). He has since directed three features, Meyaadha Maan (2017), Aadai (2019) and Gulu Gulu (2022). He has also worked as a regular collaborator with Kanagaraj in films like Master (2021), Leo (2023), Vikram (2022) and Coolie (2025).

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