Tamil director TJ Gnanavel will make his big Bollywood debut with a biographical drama thriller titled Dosa King. The film is inspired by a woman named Jeevajothi Santhakumar and her 18-year ordeal with a restaurant tycoon, hotelier and accused in a 2001 murder case, P. Rajagopal, the late founder of Saravana Bhavan which is one of the largest restaurant chains of South India. which also has many overseas branches in cities such as Paris, Frankfurt, London, New York, Singapore, Dallas, Toronto, Stockholm, Doha and Auckland.
The film will be produced under the banner of Junglee Pictures. The team took to their official Twitter handle to announce this exciting news. wrote it “Delighted to team up with critically acclaimed director, TJ Gnanavel in the upcoming epic thriller drama, Dosa King! Excited for this creative pairing as we bring this great story of Jeevajothi Santhakumar vs. The Dosa King. #DosaKing @tjgnan” .. Check it out:
We are delighted to team up with acclaimed director, TJ Gnanavel in the upcoming epic drama thriller, Dosa King!
Excited for this creative union as we bring this excellent story of Jeevajothi Santhakumar vs The Dosa King. #DosaKing @tjgnan pic.twitter.com/AixiHqvk6k— Junglee Pictures (@JungleePictures) July 25, 2022
Rajagopal was best known as a family man who was adored for his generosity by his employees and restaurants. He was also known for how his pursuit of reluctant employee Jeevajothi Santhakumar, less than half his age at the time, led to his being charged and ultimately convicted of murdering Jeevajothi’s husband. The court had initially sentenced Rajagopal and four others to ten years in prison, but the Madras High Court later extended the sentence to life imprisonment for his monstrous act. After surrendering to the authorities, Rajagopal suffered a heart attack and died on 18 July 2019.
TJ Gnanavel made his directorial debut with the 2017 coming-of-age romantic comedy Kootathil Oruthan, starring Ashok Selvan and Priya Anand in pivotal roles. Gnanavel not only directed the film but also wrote its story, screenplay and dialogues. But it was only 2021 with Suriya starrer Jai Bhim that showed him fame. The film was met with equal parts praise and speculation about its controversial subject matter. The film was also selected as the official entry to the 94th Academy Awards.
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