3 min readHyderabadUpdated: Aug 5, 2026 08:52 PM IST
Actor and politician Khushbu Sundar has opened up about the circumstances surrounding her husband Sundar C’s exit from the Rajinikanth film that was being produced by Kamal Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International, saying the director stepped away “in a very dignified way” and that it was her who broke the news to Kamal Haasan because Sundar C could not bring himself to do it. Tentatively titled Thalaivar 173 is now officially tited Dharman.
“I can’t comment on the Superstar Rajinikanth x Sundar C x Kamal Haasan project. It’s between the three of them. It’s the director’s decision to do what he wants, whether it works out or not. In a very dignified way, he backed out. He was excited, and we were even more excited. It’s between them,” Khushbu said.
She then revealed the role she played in the transition. “The only thing that happened was when he was coming out of the project, Kamal sir was in Delhi. I conveyed it to him. I passed the message to Kamal sir, as Kamal sir is more of a friend to me, while he is a producer to him,” she said. “He had hesitations about conveying it to him, so as a friend, I told him.”
Also Read: Sundar C on why he quit Rajinikanth-Kamal Haasan’s Thalaivar 173: ‘It was too much pressure’
Khushbu was careful not to go into specifics about why the exit happened, saying the scale of the project made it impossible to discuss openly. “It’s not concerning just one person. The project concerns the biggest actor and a superstar, so there are some things we can’t really talk about,” she said.
Dharman was announced in November 2025 as a “magnum opus” that would reunite Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan on screen for the first time in over 40 years. Kamal Haasan described it at the time as a celebration of “five decades of friendship and brotherhood” between the two legends. The film was to be directed by Sundar C and produced under Kamal Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International banner.
However, in May 2026, Sundar C released a statement saying he was stepping back from the project, citing “unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances.” The announcement triggered widespread speculation on social media, with some users accusing the director of presenting a weak story to Rajinikanth and others calling his press note “disrespectful.” Khushbu responded aggressively to the trolls at the time, warning one user about her “slipper size” and calling another “a disaster.”
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Initially, Cibi Chakravarti took over as director, but due to reasons unknown, Ashwath Marimuthu was announced as a director, with Kamal Haasan continuing as producer under Raaj Kamal Films International.
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