Actor Sreeleela has been announced as the female lead in Dhanush's upcoming Tamil film tentatively titled D55, marking their first onscreen collaboration. The project, directed by Rajkumar Periasamy, recently confirmed Sai Abhyankkar as its music composer. This role follows Sreeleela's recent appearance in the Tamil film Parasakthi.
The makers of the upcoming Tamil film D55 revealed on Saturday that Sreeleela will play the female lead alongside Dhanush, dispelling earlier speculations that Sai Pallavi would join the cast. This marks Sreeleela's second consecutive Tamil project after her role opposite Sivakarthikeyan in the recently released Parasakthi, a period political drama directed by Sudha Kongara, set to premiere on ZEE5 and OTTplay Premium on February 7.
Directed by Rajkumar Periasamy, whose last film was the 2024 biopic Amaran starring Sivakarthikeyan and based on the life of Indian Army officer Mukund Varadharajan, D55 is written and helmed by the same filmmaker. The announcement came soon after the confirmation of Sai Abhyankkar as the music composer, marking his first collaboration with Dhanush. Abhyankkar, a young musician, has upcoming projects including Karuppu and an Atlee-Allu Arjun film.
Speculation also surrounds the involvement of Malayalam superstar Mammootty in a crucial role, following their brief shared screen time in the 2012 film Proprietors: Kammath & Kammath, where Dhanush made a cameo. Mammootty is expected to join after completing Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Padayathra. Netflix has acquired the post-theatrical streaming rights for D55, which remains untitled officially as Dhanush's 55th film.
This casting news highlights Sreeleela's growing presence in Tamil cinema, building on her recent work and first-time pairing with Dhanush under Periasamy's direction.