The much-awaited Vijay starrer Kaththi directed by A R Murugadoss has been off to a flying start in Kolkata from February 3 this year.

The duo is teaming up again after their recent hit Thuppaki. Now, City Express has learnt that the film will have Ilayathalapathy in a dual role. The shoot has been going on in Hyderabad, Rajamundhry and at the Chennai Airport in recent days.

The film was mired in controversy recently, when a section of the media carried reports that producer Subhaskaran, MD of Lyca Productions, was closely linked to the Rajapaksa Government in Sri Lanka. Clearing the air, Karunamurthy of Ayngaran International, who is jointly producing Kaththi with Lyca, told the media, "All such reports are false. Lyca Productions is in no way connected to anyone in the Rajapaksa Government. They have also produced Pirivom Sandhippom under the Gnanam Productions banner earlier. Lyca Productions is in fact the Indian arm of the UK based business giant Lyca Mobiles which has an annual turnover of `15,000 crore." Apparently, one of the back-end operations of the company has been in Chennai for the past 10 years with around 1,800 employees.

Further clarifying Karunamurthy said, "Lyca Mobiles has been regularly funding charity ventures to help widows, children, youth, and the disabled in Sri Lanka, mostly in Vanni district. The company pledged a grant of one million pounds to The British Asian Trust in 2012 to support children, widows and the disabled in Sri Lanka and improve their livelihood. Financial and educational support is offered in several areas like Kilinochi, Jaffna and Mullaitivu. The company is involved in several such rehabilitation efforts in Sri Lanka."

In the meantime, the producers are gearing up for a Deepavali release of the film which has Neil Nitin Mukesh in a pivotal role as villain. Music is by Anirudh Ravichander and the camera is handled by Raja Rani fame George Williams. The unit has started shooting in Chennai from April 7 and the schedule is expected to go on for 40 days here. Later, the unit plans to move to North India and a few scenic locales abroad.

Samantha plays the female lead in the movie, which has been garnering a lot of interest on social media.