Lollipop Sports Academy Puts Yogi Babu in the Game

A title like Lollipop Sports Academy tells you the tone before anyone says a word, and that is exactly the point. The new film pairs Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley, two of the most dependable names in Tamil comedy, inside a sports story built for the whole family, and it began shooting in Chennai this week with a launch pooja the makers kept loud and colourful.

It is a film a long time in the making. Written and directed by K.R. Senthilnaathan, Lollipop Sports Academy is his passion project; the lawyer and well-wisher Deiva Sigamani, who has known him for years, said on stage that Senthilnaathan has chased this one for the better part of seven years, and that the launch finally turning real was its own small victory. Senthilnaathan kept his own speech short and grateful, thanking producer Manjunath and the guests, and saying he believes the backing in the room will carry the film through.

The cast is deep and clearly enjoying itself. Alongside Yogi Babu and Redin Kingsley, the film features Rachitha Mahalakshmi, Yaashika Anand, YGM Madhuvanti, Melvin, Amit Bhargav and Asmitha, and a recurring joke through the speeches was nobody wanting to give their parts away. Rachitha warned the room not to assume her role from the poster, Madhuvanti laughed that her photo was missing from it entirely but promised she is very much in the film, and Asmitha said she has taken on a kind of character she has never played before. Yaashika Anand, fresh off DD Next Level, said she had been holding out for a good script and that this one arrived right when she wanted it.

The film is produced by Manjunath, himself an actor, with Kaviya Productions and S2 Movies sharing the banners and Salem Saravanan as executive producer. Achu Rajamani scores, Shihab Pattambi handles the camera, S.P. Ahamed edits, Remban Balraj is the art director and Jacki Prabhu choreographs the stunts. The well-wishers who turned up read like a roll call of the industry’s office-bearers: Directors Union president R.V. Udhayakumar, FEFSI president R.K. Selvamani and Producers Council secretary Kathiresan all spoke, with Udhayakumar making the case that a sports-based film is exactly what Tamil cinema is short on right now, and that getting one off the ground this energetically is half the battle.

That sports backdrop, stirred through with comedy and a family-entertainer streak, is the pitch in a sentence. The team says more announcements are on the way; for now, after seven years of chasing it, Senthilnaathan finally has his film rolling, with two of Tamil cinema’s busiest comedians at the front of it.