Mari Selvaraj opens up on D56: A period fantasy rooted in politics

Filmmaker Mari Selvaraj has shared fresh insights into his upcoming project, tentatively titled D56, offering a glimpse into one of the most ambitious ventures of his career. In a recent event, the director revealed that the film will be set in a period backdrop and will, for the first time, blend elements of fantasy with strong political undertones. According to him, the narrative explores the origins of deep rooted social divisions and questions what might happen if those roots were identified and challenged at their very beginning.

Elaborating further, Mari Selvaraj explained that D56 serves as a thematic starting point for the ideas and conflicts explored in his earlier works such as Pariyerum Perumal, Karnan, Maamannan, Vaazhai, and Bison. The film imagines a time far in the past and asks a provocative question: what if someone attempted to eliminate the source of systemic oppression before it could grow and spread? This core idea forms the emotional and political spine of the story.

Calling the project a massive and demanding process, the filmmaker described D56 as the biggest film of his life so far. He also revealed that Dhanush, who plays the lead, shares the same belief and has told him that the film could become the most significant project in both their careers. The duo previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Karnan, raising expectations for their reunion.

D56 will be produced by Vels Film International and music to be composed by AR Rahman, further adding scale and weight to the project. With its blend of period setting, fantasy elements, and political commentary, the film is shaping up to be a bold expansion of Mari Selvaraj’s cinematic universe.