Karthik Subbaraj has already shifted from the conversation around Dorothy to his next major project, a Netflix-backed film that brings together Kannada star Upendra, dancer-actor Prabhu Deva and actor Atharvaa in the lead cast. The filmmaker confirmed the development in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, saying he had already completed the first schedule of the shoot before turning to promotions for Dorothy, which released on September 25, 2026 and has since triggered wide discussion online.
The new film marks another high-profile collaboration for Subbaraj, whose work has often moved between genre experimentation and mainstream appeal. This time, he says, the story is not original to him but adapted from a book. "It's not my story, but I liked it a lot. The movie is adapted from a book," he said, adding that the project is rooted in a rural setting. "The film is about an art form, but it is treated commercially, with action involved."
That description suggests a film that is likely to blend performance, identity and spectacle, with Subbaraj once again attempting to package a culturally specific subject in a mass-market format. He said the team had already completed pre-production and the first schedule before he began promoting Dorothy, and that only one more schedule remains to be shot. The project is being made for Netflix, underscoring the streaming platform's continued investment in star-driven Indian originals with pan-Indian appeal.
The casting is notable for several reasons. Upendra's return to Tamil cinema will be closely watched after his appearance in Coolie, Rajinikanth's crime drama directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The 2025 film also featured Aamir Khan, Sathyaraj, Sruti Haasan, Nagarjuna Akkineni and Soubin Shahir, making Upendra's presence in another major Tamil-language project a point of interest for audiences across industries. Prabhu Deva, meanwhile, reunites with Subbaraj after Mercury in 2018, the silent horror drama that offered a very different kind of cinematic experiment. Atharvaa's inclusion adds another familiar Tamil face to a cast that appears designed to bridge regional star power with a broader streaming audience.
The announcement comes at a moment when Dorothy itself is generating intense discussion, particularly around queer identities and representation in Tamil cinema. The film stars Sananth, Rishikanth and Keerthy Suresh in lead roles, with music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Its reception has been especially significant because it has opened up a public conversation about how queer lives are portrayed in mainstream Tamil storytelling.
A review in The Hindu framed the film as potentially historic for the industry, saying: "For many years, Tamil queer audiences who took a liking to World Cinema titles such as All About My Mother and A Fantastic Woman have yearned for a queer film that reflects their lives with accurate representation. Dorothy might be the start of a queer revolution in mainstream Tamil cinema, and Karthik has shown real effort to understand some of what queer life in India means. The film allows you to understand the importance of pronouns, while a scene featuring a scorpion illustrates that even Nature is fluid."
That critical response has helped elevate Dorothy beyond the usual cycle of release-week chatter, placing Subbaraj at the center of a wider cultural debate about representation, language and visibility. At the same time, his next project suggests he is not retreating into smaller-scale prestige filmmaking. Instead, he appears to be pursuing a parallel track: one film pushing the boundaries of social representation, another aiming for commercial reach through star casting, action and a culturally rooted art form.
For Subbaraj, that balance has become part of his signature. The new Netflix film, still untitled, now carries the added curiosity of how a rural story about an art form will be shaped for a global streaming audience, and how the combination of Upendra, Prabhu Deva and Atharvaa will be used within that framework. With one schedule left, the project is already positioned as one of the more closely watched Tamil-language productions in development.