4 min readChennaiJun 24, 2026 09:45 PM IST
Rajinikanth’s much awaited 173rd film, previously known only as Thalaivar 173, was officially titled Dharman on Wednesday, with a first look poster showing the superstar as a surgeon, scalpel in hand, standing over a fallen man. Among the names confirmed for the technical crew was editor Pradeep E Raghav, the same editor who was suspended by the Southern India Film Editors Association just two months earlier over the piracy leak of Vijay’s Jana Nayagan.
The title and poster were revealed by Kamal Haasan, whose production house Raaj Kamal Films International is backing the film, through a post on X that read, “Dharmame vellum,” meaning dharma alone will win. Directed by Ashwath Marimuthu, known for Dragon and Oh My Kadavule, the film also stars Simran, Raashi Khanna and Yogi Babu, with music by Anirudh Ravichander, marking his fifth collaboration with Rajinikanth, and cinematography by Niketh Bommi. The launch was marked with a formal pooja ceremony in Chennai.
Sources close to the team told SCREEN that Pradeep E Ragav filed an apology to the association, who has accepted it and has asked him to continue working in the industry as an editor.
Also Read: Jana Nayagan leak: Southern India Film Editors Association suspends film’s editor Pradeep E Ragav over rule violations
What happened?
Raghav’s name appearing in the credits is notable given what happened earlier this year. In April 2026, Jana Nayagan, billed as Vijay’s final film before his move into politics, was hit by a major piracy leak while it was still awaiting censor certification. The Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing eventually arrested sixteen people in connection with the case, with investigators identifying a freelance assistant editor as the one who had accessed the footage without authorisation at an editing studio and circulated a complete copy online. Raghav, who was the credited editor on the film, was not named as directly responsible for the leak itself. SIFEA’s own statement at the time made that distinction clear, but the association still suspended his membership on April 17, citing what it called negligence on his part, along with a separate and recurring violation of its rules around hiring non union members as assistant editors across his projects, including on Jana Nayagan. The suspension meant SIFEA withdrew all professional cooperation and support from him, and it urged other industry bodies to back the action.
Despite that episode, Raghav now finds himself entrusted with editing one of the most closely tracked Tamil films currently in production. Dharman has had a difficult road to this point even before the leak controversy touched it indirectly. The project was originally announced with director Sundar C at the helm, who later stepped away citing unforeseen circumstances. Filmmaker Cibi Chakaravarthi was then brought on board, with a poster carrying the tagline “Every Family Has A Hero” and a planned Pongal 2027 release, before he too exited and Ashwath Marimuthu was confirmed as director earlier this month.
Addressing this shift of directors for the project, Rajinikanth explained, “Ashwath Marimuthu is the fourth director on this film. We first signed KS Ravikumar. Then Sundar C came on board, but he had other commitments. After that, Cibi came on board, but it was a sensitive subject about a nuclear scientist, with shooting planned in Afghanistan and Russia, so we decided to set it aside for some time. Then Ashwath Marimuthu came on board,”
Editor Pradeep E Raghav, who faced suspension earlier this year over the Jana Nayagan leak, is part of the technical crew of Dharman