Subaskaran Allirajah (born 2 March 1972) is a British-Sri Lankan Tamil entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Lycamobile, a telecommunications company and also its entertainment subsidiary called Lyca Productions, based in Chennai, India, and began the production with its first tamil film Kaththi (2014). It produced the science fiction thriller 2.0 (2018), which was India's most expensive film and the 5th most expensive non-English-language film at the time of its release.[1] Lyca Productions has also produced Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023) which are both Tamil cinema releases.

Subaskaran Allirajah
Born (1972-03-02) 2 March 1972 (age 52)
Jaffna, Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
Occupations
Organization(s)Founder & chairman Lycamobile, Lyca Productions
SpousePrema Subaskaran
Children3

In September 2021, he was announced as the new owner of the Jaffna Kings for the Lanka Premier League (LPL). Lyca Kovai Kings, a cricket team representing Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) tournament, is owned by Lyca Productions.[2][3]

Filmography

edit

Produced films

edit
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
List of Lyca productions
Year Title Language Director Cast Synopsis Ref.
2014 Kaththi Tamil A. R. Murugadoss Vijay, Samantha, Neil Nitin Mukesh Two look-a-likes eventually come together to tackle the burning issues of farmers committing suicide due to corporate encroachment. [4]
2016 Enakku Innoru Per Irukku Tamil Sam Anton G. V. Prakash Kumar, Anandhi, Saravanan A simpleton is mistakenly earmarked as the successor of an ageing notorious don after falling in love with the don's daughter. [5]
2017 Khaidi No. 150 Telugu V. V. Vinayak Chiranjeevi, Kajal Aggarwal, Tarun Arora Two look-a-likes eventually come together to tackle the burning issues of farmers committing suicide due to corporate encroachment. [6]
Yaman Tamil Jeeva Shankar Vijay Antony, Miya, Thiagarajan A young man enters politics to fight corruption and avenge the murder of his father. [7]
Ippadai Vellum Tamil Gaurav Narayanan Udhayanidhi Stalin, Manjima Mohan, Daniel Balaji Two innocent men are mistaken for members of a terrorist organisation. [8]
2018 Diya Tamil A. L. Vijay Sai Pallavi, Naga Shourya, RJ Balaji After an abortion, a woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she is visited by the foetus, who is now grown up and is visible to her. [9]
Kolamavu Kokila Tamil Nelson Dilipkumar Nayanthara, Yogi Babu, Saranya A young woman gets involved with a drug smuggling gang to pay for her mother's cancer treatment. [10]
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Tamil Mani Ratnam Arvind Swami, STR, Vijay Sethupathi, Arun Vijay A family of gangsters go through a power struggle as they attempt to find the assassin who targeted their father. [11]
Vada Chennai Tamil Vetrimaaran Dhanush, Andrea Jeremiah, Aishwarya Rajesh Set in North Chennai, a young man is drawn into a gang war. [12]
2.0 Tamil S. Shankar Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson Scientists help the government investigate a threat beyond understanding. [13]
2019 Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven Tamil Sundar C STR, Megha Akash, Catherine Tresa The heir of a billionaire tries to unite his estranged aunt with his family again. [14]
Kaappaan Tamil K. V. Anand Mohanlal, Suriya, Arya, Sayyeshaa An SPG Commander cum organic farmer tries to save the nation from an evil businessman [15]
2020 Darbar Tamil A. R. Murugadoss Rajinikanth, Nayanthara, Nivetha Thomas, Sunil Shetty A daredevil cop is on a rampage to eliminate a drug syndicate in Mumbai [16]
Mafia: Chapter 1 Tamil Karthick Naren Arun Vijay, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Prasanna An NCB Officer and his batch mates, bring down a drug lord who is also a successful entrepreneur. [17]
2022 Don Tamil Cibi Chakaravarthi Sivakarthikeyan, S. J. Suryah, Priyanka Mohan A reluctant engineering student repeatedly clashing with the college discipline mentor, while still trying to discover his passion in life and prove his eligibility to his father. [18]
Panni Kutty Tamil Anucharan Murugaiyan Yogi Babu, Karunakaran A down-on-luck man has to run over a piglet that had caused a minor accident to get lucky in life. But the animal belongs to a man who has to keep it safe for his wedding to happen. [19]
Good Luck Jerry Hindi Sidharth Sengupta Janhvi Kapoor A young woman gets involved with a drug smuggling gang to pay for her mother's cancer treatment. [20]
Ponniyin Selvan: I Tamil Mani Ratnam Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vikram Prabhu Set in the 10th century, it tells the story of early life of chola emperor Arunmozhi Varman. [21]
Ram Setu Hindi Abhishek Sharma Akshay Kumar Aryan Kulshrestha, an Atheist Archaeologist, sets out on a journey to unveil and prove the mysterious secrets of Ram Setu, a man-made structure built by Lord Rama [22]
Pattathu Arasan Tamil A. Sarkunam Atharvaa, Rajkiran Chinnadurai along with his grandfather, a Kabbadi player, try to bring justice for his brother's death. [23]
Naai Sekar Returns Tamil Suraj Vadivelu Naai Sekar, who makes money by kidnapping dogs, learns about his long-lost pet dog that was taken away during his childhood. [24]
Raangi Tamil M. Saravanan Trisha, Anaswara Rajan A brave journalist, tries to solve an issue of a minor girl, but eventually trapped into an international issue. [25]
2023 Thiruvin Kural Tamil Harish Prabhu Arulnithi, Bharathiraja, Aathmika An unforeseen accident at a construction site puts the lives of a speech and hearing impaired youngster and his father in trouble. [26]
Ponniyin Selvan: II Tamil Mani Ratnam Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vikram Prabhu Set in the 10th century, it tells the story of early life of chola emperor Arunmozhi Varman. [27]
Theera Kaadhal Tamil Rohin Venkatesan Jai, Aishwarya Rajesh, Sshivada A mild mannered man's life turns upside town, when he meets a woman from his past. [28]
Chandramukhi 2 Tamil P. Vasu Raghava Lawrence, Kangana Ranaut, Vadivelu A family tries to install a god's temple, but their plans are thwarted by a woman's spirit. [29]
2024 Mission: Chapter 1 Tamil A. L. Vijay Arun Vijay, Amy Jackson, Nimisha Sajayan A prisoner confined in a jail in London faces several roadblocks as he tries to reunite with his ailing daughter. [30]
Lal Salaam Tamil Aishwarya Rajinikanth Rajinikanth, Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth A rivalry between two local cricket teams bring about a situation of religious unrest between the Hindu-Muslim population of a village in Tamil Nadu. [31]
Indian 2 Tamil S. Shankar Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Bobby Simha, S. J. Suryah, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Priya Bhavani Shankar After a group of idealistic youngsters attract his attention to the corruption happening here, Senapathy aka Indian thatha returns to India, calling for the fight to begin at homes. [32]
Vettaiyan Tamil T. J. Gnanavel Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Manju Warrier, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, Ritika Singh, Dushara Vijayan Post-Production [33]
2025 Indian 3 Tamil S. Shankar Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Bobby Simha, S. J. Suryah, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Priya Bhavani Shankar Filming [34]
Vidaa Muyarchi Tamil Magizh Thirumeni Ajith Kumar, Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra, Aarav [35]
L2: Empuraan Malayalam Prithviraj Sukumaran Mohanlal [36][37]

Distributed films

edit

In addition to the films produced by Lyca Productions since 2014, the following films from other banners were distributed by the company:

Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Language Director Cast Synopsis Ref.
2015 Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Tamil Vignesh Shivan Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara, RJ Balaji and Radhika Sarathkumar Pandiyan, a policeman's son, falls in love with Kadhambari, a girl with hearing impairment. She agrees to have a relationship with him only if he helps her kill a gangster who murdered her parents. [38]
2016 Visaranai Vetrimaaran Dinesh, Samuthirakani, Anandhi and Aadukalam Murugadoss Four labourers are tortured by the police to confess to a theft they have not committed. Just when they feel relieved after being saved by an honest policeman, they find that the worst is yet to come. [39]
Vetrivel Vasantha Mani Sasikumar, Miya, Prabhu and Nikhila Vimal In a bid to help his younger brother unite with the girl he loves, Vetrivel and his friends decide to kidnap her. Things take an ugly turn when their plan goes wrong and results in messy situations. [40]
2017 Spyder A. R. Murugadoss Mahesh Babu, Rakul Preet Singh and S. J. Surya Shiva, an intelligence officer, develops a phone software that helps him track those in need of help. He sets out to save the people of Hyderabad when he realises that a serial killer is on the loose. [41]
2018 Kaala Pa. Ranjith Rajinikanth, Nana Patekar, Eswari Rao, Samuthirakani and Huma Qureshi Karikaalan consistently fights to keep the people of Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, safe from the clutches of mighty politicians and the land mafia don, Hari Dhadha. [42]
Irumbu Thirai P. S. Mithran Vishal, Arjun and Samantha Ruth Prabhu A military officer borrows money from a bank using fake papers for his sister's marriage. However, when the money goes missing from his account, he begins an investigation that leads him to a hacker. [43]
Sandakozhi 2 N. Linguswamy Vishal, Keerthy Suresh, Rajkiran and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar Balu returns from New York and sets out to protect his family from an evil-minded man. Complications further arise as he falls in love with a woman, who reminds him of his ex-lover. [44]
2021 Pushpa: The Rise Tamil dubbed Sukumar Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil, Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari, Rao Ramesh and Anasuya Bharadwaj Violence erupts between red sandalwood smugglers and the police charged with bringing down their organisation in the Seshachalam Hills of Andhra Pradesh state. [45]
2022 RRR S. S. Rajamouli N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Olivia Morris, Samuthirakani, Alison Doody and Ray Stevenson A tale of two legendary revolutionaries and their journey far away from home. After their journey they return home to start fighting back against British colonialists in the 1920s. [46][47]
Sita Ramam Hanu Raghavapudi Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur, Rashmika Mandanna and Sumanth To not get rusticated A rebellious student leaves to India to fulfill her dead grandfather's wish, to deliver a letter the visit leads her to a love story between an orphan Indian Army soldier and a woman unbeknownst to him a rich heiress in the 60s. Will she deliver the letter to her? [48]
Baba (Re-release) Tamil Suresh Krissna Rajinikanth, Manisha Koirala and Goundamani The film's story is about a carefree young non-believer of supreme power, Baba, who is a reincarnation of a great saint from the Himalayas. [49][50]
2023 Thunivu H. Vinoth Ajith Kumar Radha, a dreaded gangster, and his men plot to rob "Your Bank", one of the biggest privately-owned bank in Chennai, only to realise that another gang led a by mysterious person, nicknamed Dark Devil, has already hijacked the bank. The police, led by DGP Dayalan, is trying to figure out a way to capture Dark Devil, only to realize that his motive is to actually expose the privately-owned banks involved in financial fraud. [51]
Merry Christmas Tamil Sriram Raghavan Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi The lives of a woman in an unhappy marriage and a man with a mysterious past are turned upside down on Christmas Eve. [52]
2024 Captain Miller Tamil Arun Matheswaran Dhanush, Priyanka Mohan, Shivarajkumar Set in pre-Independence era, the British are looking for ’Miller’ , a British soldier turned vigilante. The villagers are tired of the Analeesan’s antics and ask him to stay away from them. Analeesan, who has become ‘Miller’ after joining the British army, has gone rouge. [53]

Awards

edit

In October 2011 Lycatel was ranked 36th out of 250 leading mid-market private companies in The Sunday Times.[54] Allirajah received a gold award for Best Overall Enterprise in 2010 at the Asian Achievers Award ceremony for the impact he has made on the Asian community in the UK.[55] The Asian Voice Political and Public Life awarded Allirajah in 2011 its "International Entrepreneur of the Year" award.[56]

In 2012 the English Asian Business Awards presented Allirajah with the "2011 Power Business of the Year" award, recognizing the growth of the Lycamobile business globally,[57] as well as the "Social Entrepreneur of the Year" award.[58]

Since November 2018, Lycatel and its founder have been embroiled in a number of disputes relating to alleged fraud. The company was due for a tribunal hearing in March 2020 to argue against the HM Revenue and Customs. The firm estimates that it would have to pay £60m if it loses – a potential liability that has almost doubled in recent years. Lycamobile declined to say how much is at stake in two other disputes.[59]

References

edit
  1. ^ "At Rs 543 crore, Akshay Kumar and Rajinikanth's 2.0 is costlier than Deadpool and these Hollywood blockbusters - Bollywood News". timesnownews.com. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Lyca Group Chairman Allirajah Subaskaran new owner of Jaffna Kings | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Allirajah Subaskaran new proprietor of Jaffna LPL franchise". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Kaththi review: Beneath the flab, some solid masala moments". The Hindu. 22 October 2014.
  5. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (17 June 2016). "Enakku Innoru Per Irukku: A new don". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  6. ^ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (11 January 2017). "Khaidi No.150: Chiranjeevi returns in style". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  7. ^ Menon, Vishal (25 February 2017). "Yaman review: Yaman of the moment". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  8. ^ "Ippadai Vellum Review {2.5/5}: Gaurav manages to balance the seriousness of the plot with the comedy that arises out of mistaken identity", The Times of India, retrieved 24 October 2019
  9. ^ Menon, Vishal (28 April 2018). "Nothing but ordinary". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  10. ^ Menon, Vishal (17 August 2018). "'Kolamavu Kokila' review: a quirky, ridiculous and fun film". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  11. ^ Ramanujam, Srinivasa (27 September 2018). "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam review: Guns, greed and glory". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. ^ S, Srivatsan (17 October 2018). "'Vada Chennai' review: a masterful tale of power and deceit". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  13. ^ Ramanujam, Srinivasa (29 November 2018). "'2.0' review: Grandeur on the big screen". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  14. ^ "STR-starrer Vandha Rajavathan Varuven earns Rs 8 cr in Tamil Nadu; F2 makes Rs 75 cr worldwide". Firstpost. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Suriya's Kaappaan gets new release date". The Indian Express. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  16. ^ "'Darbar' pre-release business: Rajinikanth starrer crosses 200 crore mark?". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Arun Vijay and Karthick Naren's Mafia kicks off today". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Sivakarthikeyan's next is 'DON' with debutante director Cibi Chakaravarthi". The Times of India.
  19. ^ "Panni Kutty – Lyca Productions". Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  20. ^ "First look of Good Luck Jerry starring Janhvi Kapoor unveiled, film goes on floors today in Punjab". Bollywood Hungama. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  21. ^ Cr, Sharanya. "Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan' starts rolling in Thailand". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  22. ^ "Ram Setu will be in theatres 25th October, 2022".
  23. ^ "Lyca Productions A Subaskaran presents Filmmaker A Sarkunam directorial Atharvaa Murali starrer "Pattathu Arasan" Trailer harvests phenomenal appreciation".
  24. ^ "Lyca Productions A Subaskaran presents Filmmaker A Sarkunam directorial Atharvaa Murali starrer "Pattathu Arasan" Trailer harvests phenomenal appreciation".
  25. ^ "Raangi".
  26. ^ Balachandran, Logesh. "Arulnithi stars in emotional drama with Bharathirajaa". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  27. ^ "'Ponniyin Selvan: II' review: Netizens are mesmerised by Mani Ratnam's magnum opus".
  28. ^ "'Ponniyin Selvan: II' review: Theera Kaadhal".
  29. ^ "Lyca Productions releases first look of Raghava Lawrence as Vettaiyan in 'Chandramukhi 2'".
  30. ^ "Lyca Productions to release Arun Vijay's ambitious 'Mission: Chapter 1'".
  31. ^ "New Poster Alert: Rajinikanth's Lal Salaam To Release On Pongal 2024".
  32. ^ "Kamal Haasan, Shankar's 'Indian 2' trimmed by 12 minutes, makers finally confirm".
  33. ^ "Vettaiyan: Lyca Productions reveal real title of Thalaivar 170 with a teaser on Rajinikanth's birthday".
  34. ^ "Lyca Productions Confirms Release Date of Kamal Haasan and Director Shankar's 'Indian 3'".
  35. ^ [Ajith’s Vidaa Muyarchi first look: Stylish and ready to conquer – Telugu News "Ajith's Vidaa Muyarchi first look: Stylish and ready to conquer – Telugu News"]. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  36. ^ "Prithviraj and Mohanlal's 'L2E - Empuraan' shoot to begin on October 5". 30 September 2023.
  37. ^ "Mohanlal-Prithviraj film Empuraan starts rolling". 6 October 2023.
  38. ^ "Naanum Rowdy Dhaan: A thoroughly entertaining black comedy". The Hindu. 22 October 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  39. ^ "'Visaranai' falls out of the Oscar race". Times of India. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  40. ^ "Review : Vetrivel Review: Watchable". Sify. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  41. ^ Srivatsan (1 August 2017). "Spyder movie review: Mahesh Babu's film is engaging in parts". India Today. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  42. ^ "It's Kaala time at last!". Deccan Chronicle. 7 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  43. ^ "Vishal-Samantha's 'Irumbu Thirai' to release on May 11". The Times of India.
  44. ^ "Sandakozhi 2 – getting ready for another fight ..." www.behindwoods.com.
  45. ^ "Lyca Productions Grabs Tamil Nadu Theatrical Rights of Allu Arjun's Pushpa: The Rise". News18. 18 November 2021. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  46. ^ "BREAKING: Ram Charan and Jr NTR starrer RRR to release in theatres on March 25". Bollywood Hungama. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  47. ^ "Theatrical distribution rights of SS Rajamouli's RRR acquired by Lyca Productions". The Indian Express. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  48. ^ "Sita Ramam Is An Unexpected Success : Lyca Makers Toasting In Sita Ramam Success Meet".
  49. ^ "Superstar Rajinikanth's Baba to be re-released in theatres. Deets inside". 21 November 2022.
  50. ^ "Rajinikanth-Suresh Krissna's Baba to hit theatres once again". Cinema Express. 21 November 2022.
  51. ^ "Thunivu: Overseas release to be taken care of by Lyca Productions and Tenkotta".
  52. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi to sign his next film with director Pandiraj".
  53. ^ "Thunivu: Overseas release to be taken care of by Lyca Productions and Tenkotta".
  54. ^ "Top Track 250 league table". 30 January 2012. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012.
  55. ^ "Asian Achievers Awards 2010 > 2010". 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 7 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  56. ^ "Asian bags international entrepreneur award for 2011". The Hindu Business Line. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  57. ^ "Honour for English Asian Business award winners". Asian Image. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  58. ^ "Winners of 2012 Asian Business". Asian Business Awards. 2 April 2012. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  59. ^ Hughes, Solomon; Evans, Rob (2 February 2020). "Major Tory donor Lycamobile embroiled in three disputes with HMRC". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.