Nani says Chennai will call him Jadal after The Paradise

Nani believes The Paradise will give Chennai audiences a new name for him: Jadal. Speaking ahead of the film’s September 24 release, he predicted that on his next visit to promote a film, fans would address him by his character’s name.

He made that prediction while talking about the hardest film of his career. Nani said he had long wanted to watch a large-scale action film as an audience member, and sees The Paradise as the answer to that wish. The spectacle, he stressed, comes with strong emotions rather than replacing them.

Director Srikanth Odela gave the story a simpler outline: a mother and a revolution. He said he believed those ideas would connect with audiences. The mother-son relationship has remained largely outside the action-heavy teaser, which introduced Jadal amid prison fights and open revolt. The team has also chosen to release the film without a conventional trailer.

Nani’s connection to Tamil cinema occupied just as much of the conversation. He named Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, K. Bhagyaraj and Bharathiraja among the artists who shaped his love of films. Chennai, he said, feels like a return to his film family, and the affection he receives from Tamil audiences is why he dubs his films in Tamil himself.

The cast includes Kayadu Lohar, Raghav Juyal, Sonali Kulkarni and Mohan Babu, with Keerthy Suresh appearing in a song. Anirudh Ravichander has composed the music. Nani also unveiled the first ticket for a special screening arranged for his fans in Chennai ahead of the September 24 opening.