‘KH234’ will be an action-packed feast: Stuntmasters Anbariv on the Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam project

Anbariv, stuntmaster twins Anbu and Arivu, are currently working on Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's 'KH234'. The stuntmaster duo, who worked on Vijay’s ‘Leo’, are also looking forward to working on both of Rajinikanth’s upcoming projects.

Anbariv — as stuntmaster twins Anbu and Arivu are popularly known as — have lost count of the number of times they listened to the popular ‘Thenpaandi Seemaiyile’ track from Nayagan (1987) while growing up.

“I would start the first line....” says Anbu. Arivu chimes in, “And I would complete it.”

This Ilaiyaraaja song from the Mani Ratnam-Kamal Haasan cult classic remains one of their favourite tracks. Today, 35 years after the release of Nayagan, Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan have again joined hands for ‘KH234’, and Anbariv are in the thick of action.

The teaser of this film, expected to be released on November 6 close on the heels of Kamal Haasan’s birthday, will be an ‘action-packed feast’. “It will be of Hollywood standard,” is all they are willing to say as of now, “KH234 will be a pure action film.”

This is their second full-length film with Kamal Haasan, having worked on the 2022 hit flick Vikram directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. “We considered being called for Vikram a huge accomplishment.” And now, the stakes just got bigger, as Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam working together again is considered a watershed moment by many observers of Tamil cinema. “While we were excited, we know that it is a big responsibility to deliver the goods. We started working on the action possibilities the minute we got the call.”

Fight club

Anbariv are among the biggest stunt coordinators in South Indian cinema today. While Pa Ranjith’s Madras and Kabali fetched them fame, their growth in the last few years has been staggering to say the least, with projects like Sarpatta Parambarai, Beast, KGF, RDX and the latest Vijay-starrer Leo.