(This article is authored by Alar)

Thalapathy Vijay, who is currently busy shooting his upcoming film Leo, has reportedly given his nod to another project with a Telugu director. Sources say that Veera Simha Reddy, directed by Gopichand Malineni and starring Nandamuri Balakrishna, was a huge success, and that Vijay was particularly taken with the film's narrative.

After working with Vamshi Paidipally on the film Varisu, this will be Vijay's second time teaming up with a director from the Telugu film industry. Critics and moviegoers had mixed reviews to Varisu, which was brought as a family-friendly entertainer. However, it caught being one of 2023's highest-grossing movies.

The commercial success of Gopichand Malineni's films, such as Don Seenu, Balupu, Winner, and Krack, attest to his talent as a director. His most recent film, Veera Simha Reddy, starred Balakrishna in a commanding role and was a commercial success. The movie got high marks for its entertaining plot, witty dialogue, and impressive score.

The plot of Vijay and Gopichand Malineni's film has not been announced. It's unclear if this will be a bilingual effort or if it will be a Tamil film with Telugu entities. In addition, the film's cast and crew have not yet been confirmed. The film, however, is rumored to begin production once Vijay wraps up his duties on Leo.

Leo is one of the year's most anticipated films as it marks the third installment of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Cinematic Universe (LCU) after Kaithi and Vikram. The film also reunites Vijay and Trisha after 15 years. The film is expected to wrap up its production by May and release on October 19 2023.

Reportedly, Gopichand Malineni narrated a powerful script to Vijay and the actor okayed it in a single sitting.

The director who is a specialist in making mass and commercial entertainers is said to have readied a different story and will be making Vijay’s movie on a huge… pic.twitter.com/4nYSlMdsF0

— Christopher Kanagaraj (@Chrissuccess) April 17, 2023