Lyca Productions () is an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n entertainment company founded by

Subaskaran Allirajah Subaskaran Allirajah (born 2 March 1972) is a British-Sri Lankan entrepreneur. He was born in Sri Lanka and he later migrated to England and became a British citizen. He is the founder and chairman of Lyca Mobile, a telecommunications company ...

in 2014. Subaskaran Allirajah is a British citizen of Sri Lanka Tamil ethnicity. A subsidiary of

Lycamobile Lyca Mobile is a British mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operating in 23 countries. It provides international pay-as-you-go SIM cards. The company is chaired by Subaskaran Allirajah. As an MVNO, Lyca Mobile does not own its own mobile ...

(part of the Lyca Group), the studio has been involved in the production and distribution of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, and Sinhala films. It has produced some of Tamil cinema's most expensive films, including '' 2.0'' (2018), '' Ponniyin Selvan: I'' (2022), and '' Ponniyin Selvan: II'' (2023) and '' L2: Empuraan'' (2025).

History

Pirivom Santhippom ''Pirivom Santhippom'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Karu Palaniappan starring Cheran and Sneha alongside an ensemble cast. The film is about the life of a young couple in a joint family with the Nagara ...

'' (2008) was the first film produced by A. Subhaskaran under Gnanam films. Lyca Productions chose to collaborate with

Ayngaran International Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. The chairman of the company is K. Karunamoorthy. It also operates a chain of retail video stores located in the United Kingdom, France, Canada, ...

to produce and signed on

AR Murugadoss Murugadas Arunachalam (born 25 September 1974), known professionally as AR Murugadoss, () is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer who predominantly works in the Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He is best known for directin ...

and Vijay to be a part of their debut project. A social drama tackling the issue of farmers committing suicide due to corporate encroachment, ''

Kaththi ''Kaththi'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action drama film, action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. It is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah's Lyca Productions. The film stars Vijay (actor), Vijay in dual ...

'' was shot throughout early 2014 with

Samantha Samantha is an English feminine given name in use since the 17th century that is of uncertain derivation. It is now in popular use worldwide due to various popular culture influences. Etymology Some etymologists have suggested Samantha might ...

and

Neil Nitin Mukesh Neil Nitin Mukesh Chand Mathur (born 15 January 1982) is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter known for his work in Hindi films. He is the son of playback singer Nitin Mukesh and grandson of singer Mukesh. He debuted as a child artist ...

signed on for other pivotal roles. As the film announced its release plans, several pro-Tamil pressure groups demanded all references to Lyca Productions to be removed from the title and other publicity material. The groups felt it was unacceptable that a business house, allegedly reported to be connected to

Sri Lankan President The president of Sri Lanka ( ''Śrī Laṅkā Janādhipati''; ''Ilaṇkai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union governme ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, would be allowed to produce a Tamil movie in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

when the

Tamil Nadu Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of t ...

, citing human rights violations during the civil war in the island nation, had already passed a resolution seeking severance of business ties with

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Unable to reach a compromise with the pressure groups, and fearing a boycott and violence, Lyca Productions chose to remove its name from the copies released in India. ''Kaththi'' consequently managed to release in October 2014 to positive reviews, with Rediff.com stating that the film "entertains with a message", while Sify.com similarly stated that it was a "well made entertainer with a powerful message". The film became a very profitable venture at the box office for Lyca Productions, grossing over 100 crore rupees within two weeks of release. In late 2015, Lyca Productions agreed a deal with

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...

for the worldwide distribution rights of two of his productions, ''

Naanum Rowdydhaan ''Naanum Rowdy Dhaan'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language romantic action comedy film written and directed by Vignesh Shivan, produced by Dhanush under his Wunderbar Films. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara, with Parthiban, Radhi ...

'' (2015) and ''

Visaranai ''Visaranai'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran. It is based on the novel ''Lock Up'' by M. Chandrakumar. The film stars Dinesh, Anandhi, Samuthirakani, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Kishore, Prad ...

'' (2016). The movie was also met with protests, though ''Naanum Rowdydhaan'' released without any problems and also became a profitable venture for the studio. Also throughout 2015, Lyca Productions worked on the pre-production of '' 2.0'', a sequel to Shankar's earlier ''

Enthiran ''Enthiran'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film co-written and directed by S. Shankar. It is the first instalment in the ''Enthiran'' film series. The film stars Rajinikanth in dual lead roles as a scientist and th ...

'' (2010), and signed on

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

and

Amy Jackson Amy Louise Jackson Westwick (née Jackson; born 31 January 1992) is a British actress and model known for her work in Indian films. She predominantly works in Tamil films but has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and English films. Jackson's ...

to feature in key roles. Believed to be the most expensive Indian production of all time, the team also negotiated for several months with

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

for a role in the film, but eventually did not sign him. The studio also launched another film titled ''

Enakku Innoru Per Irukku ''Enakku Innoru Per Irukku'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language mafia comedy film directed by Sam Anton starring G. V. Prakash Kumar (who also composed the music) and Anandhi in the lead roles. Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah, who is from L ...

'' with G. V. Prakash Kumar in the lead role during December 2015.

Produced films

Distributed films

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

Lyca Music

Notes

References