Tamil filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj is all set for the release of his next, Jigarthanda Double X, on Friday. A sequel to his 2015 hit film Jigarthanda, the upcoming film features SJ Suryah and Raghava Lawrence.
Speaking about Jigarthanda Double X at interviews, Subbaraj said that the action comedy is his tribute to Hollywood's Western classics and actor Clint Eastwood. While writing the script of the sequel, he was careful about retaining the feel of the first film but ensured the characters do not remind the audience of Jigarthanda, Subbaraj told Film Companion.
Elaborating on its making style, Subbaraj said he has given it a fresh treatment using wide angles and slow movement shots. This is an ode to Clint Eastwood's style of filmmaking he said, adding that Jigarthanda Double X was created with a clear-cut vision to make it look like a Western.
The film revolves around a filmmaker and a gangster who aspires to be Tamil cinema's first dark-skinned actor. In another interview to a YouTube channel, Subbaraj revealed that he was inspired by the acting journey of superstar Rajinikanth. The Times of India reported that Jigarthanda Double X is also set in 1975, the year Rajinikanth debuted with Apoorva Ragangal.
Subbaraj had recently said he would have made the same film with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in the lead if he had been born decades earlier.
A self-confessed Rajinikanth fan, Subbaraj directed the superstar in the blockbuster film Petta in 2019. A treat for Thalaivar fans, the film was widely appreciated by both the audience and critics. Subbaraj had said he grew up idolising Rajinikanth and Petta was his tribute to the superstar of the 90s.