Can this pairing recreate 96's magic on screen?

Leaked photos of Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi shooting near Howrah Bridge for Mani Ratnam's next have fans recalling 96.

26 July 2026 12 hr ago 2 min read
M
Media Wing (LetsxOtt)
Journalist
26 July 2026 · 12 hr ago
2 min read
Can this pairing recreate 96's magic on screen?
Source: LetsXott
   Leaked pictures from the sets of Mani Ratnam's next film have taken over social media,and this time it's Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi caught on camera near Howrah Bridge in Kolkata. The two are shooting for an as yet untitled romantic drama,and the visuals spreading online show Sethupathi in a clean shaven,younger look, a big shift from his usual bearded screen presence. Fans didn't take long to connect the dots,and for many, the mood of the photos brought back memories of 96, the 2018 hit where Sethupathi played a heartbroken photographer pining for lost love.

   The film, currently going by the title Production No.23, marks the first time Sethupathi is headlining a Mani Ratnam project as the main lead, though he'd earlier worked with the director in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. Sai Pallavi is on board too, in her first film with both Ratnam and Sethupathi together. It's a big deal for Ratnam,who's trying to bounce back after Thug Life didn't land the way he wanted last year. The shoot kicked off in Kolkata around July 23, with the first schedule expected to run about ten days before the unit moves on to Puducherry.AR Rahman is composing the music, keeping his three decade long streak with Ratnam going. That's not a small detail, since Rahman and Ratnam together have given Tamil cinema some of its most remembered soundtracks.

   Reports say a chunk of the story is set overseas, though Ratnam is said to be recreating those portions on a virtual set instead of an actual foreign shoot.Sethupathi is currently juggling this with Slumdog, 33 Temple Road, and Sai Pallavi has Ramayana on her plate as well,where she plays Sita opposite Ranbir Kapoor.You almost feel for these actors, running between sets with barely a day to catch their breath.The full shoot for the Ratnam film is expected to wrap in around forty days, and neither Madras Talkies nor the makers have confirmed the leaked visuals officially, though that hasn't stopped them from going viral within hours.

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