Rajini in Thirupathi

Superstar Rajinikanth went to Thirupathi Temple yesterday with his family members to offer prayers. He has gone there with his wife Lata, daughters Soundarya and Aishwarya, son in law Dhanush, and grandson.

The visit was to have a ‘Dharshan’ of the Lord Venkateswara and to perform the ritual of tonsure of his grandson in the divine place.

Rajini, who was expected to come back to Chennai by the second week of February from Himalayas, has cut short his trip and came back to Chennai last week. He will soon start his work for his forthcoming film ‘Kuselan’, directed by P. Vasu.

Rajini and the Rudraksh

Everyone who was present in the silver jubilee function of ‘Sivaji’, would have noticed Dhanush, superstar’s son-in-law, holding a Rudraksh bead in his hands and praying with closed eyes when superstar entered the hall. It was none other than Rajini who had presented the Rudraksh to Dhanush.

Rajini’s sentimental attachment with Rudraksh bead started long back. There was an incident which was flashed in all newspapers during the shooting of ‘Arunachalam’. Rajini, according to the news, after coming back to the room after the shooting, was shocked to note that his Rudraksh was missing.

It was midnight but the deep attachment with the divine Rudraksh did not allow Rajini to wait till the morning to search the Rudraksh. He went back to the shooting spot and started searching with the help of the giant lights used for shooting. He found the divine bead after a while.

The Rudraksh also figures in Soundarya’s 3D animation film ‘Sultan the Warrior’, featuring Rajini.

‘Kuselan’ goes to floor on Feb 15

The shooting of superstar Rajinikanth starrer ‘Kuselan’ will start on February 15 in Chennai. Rajini, who is expected to return from Himalayas by the second week of February, will come to the sets soon after his return.

The choice of the heroine and other details are expected to be announced during the first week of February.

The movie, directed by P. Vasu, is a remake of Malayalam movie titled ‘Katha Parayumbol’. The story revolves around the friendship between a superstar and a hairdresser. Pasupathy plays the role of the friend.

Interestingly Rajini’s role is said to be reflecting his own life. He is believed to play his real life character as Rajinikanth.

P. Vasu is meticulously working to make necessary changes to suit Tamil and Telugu audiences, as the movie will be a bilingual project.

Aishwarya Rai in superstar Rajinikanth’s “Robot”

According to reports it is almost certain that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has signed the Super star Rajini kanth’s  mega movie “Robot“. Rajini’s favorite director Shankar directs Robot. Aishwarya Rai will play opposite to India’s biggest and highest paid actor superstar Rajinikanth.

Looks like Aishwarya Rai would be paid a whopping amount of Rs 1.5 crore for the film , the highest salary received by an actress in India.

Rajnikath - NDTV Entertainer of the Year

The one and only boss Superstar of Indian Cimena Rajnikath was named NDTV Entertainer of the Year.

In CINEMA section The nominees are:
1. Shahrukh Khan
2. Rajni Kanth
3. Shilpa Shetty
4. CHAK DE GIRLS
5. Himesh Reshammiya

The coveted NDTV Indian of the Year awards were announced at a glittering function held at Taj Palace, New Delhi. The function was attended by dignitaries, celebrities and other prominent personalities.

Rajini’s “Kuselan” (a) “Katha Parayumbol” story

It`s official Rajnikanth is going to do a quick movie called Kuselan before mega Robot. Rajinikanth’s Kuselan is going to be a remake of Sreenivasan’s Malayalam “Katha Parayumbol”

Soundarya Rajnikanth unveils “Sultan The Warrior” Trailer

Soundarya Rajnikanth, the 23 year old daughter of the superstar Rajnikanth unveiled “Sultan the Warrior” new trailer at Inox in Chennai. In the trailer Rajnikanth looks at least 20 years younger.

“ Sultan is actually Appa’s(dad’s) story idea. It’s not something you have heard before and is not rooted in Ramayana or Mahabharata. I did the screenplay and the film is a daughter’s gift to her father.” said Soundarya.

“It’s a daughter’s gift to her father” - that’s how Soundarya describes her full-length animation film Sultan: The Warrior.

Super Star Rajini in Kuselan

The quick project in which Super Star Rajinikanth is going to act next is named Kuselan. The movie Kuselan is going to be directed by P. Vasu. Kavithalaya and Seven Arts are jointly producing the film in Tamil. Rajinikanth will finish this movie before he starts shooting for Robot.

This movie will be remake of Sreenivasan`s Malayalam super hit Katha Parayumbol. P. Vasu and Rajni had earlier joined hands to give the super hit movie Chandramukhi which also was a Malayalam remake.

The official announcement on Kuselan movie was made at Taj Coromandel in Chennai by K Balachander and P Vasu. Director Vasu clarified that Rajini will not do a honorary role in the movie but a very important role. The complete crew list will be ready in a couple of days.

The movie is about the friendship between a super star and a barber. Actor Pasupathi will be donning the role of the barber.

The movie will be made in Tamil and Telugu simultaneously and producer C Ashwini Dutt will be producing the Telugu version of Rajnikant’s forthcoming film under his Vyjayanthi Movies banner.

The shooting is expected to start by February and the movie is to be released after summer.

Name change for Robot?

Director Shankar while talking about the film Robot in an interview given to a TV channel has said that the title of the movie might change.

The buzz is that the State Government’s decision to provide tax-exemption to movies titled in Tamil is the reason that this name change might come through. The Tamil film producers and directors are these days found with Tamil dictionary to choose Tamil titles for their films to avail this concession.

On a 100 crore budget, Robot movie will definitely need the entertainment tax-exemption. There was also a debate over the title of Shivaji, if it was a Tamil name or not. Even with the debate that Shivaji was a Marathi name, the State government accepted that Shivaji is a Tamil title indeed, and the movie was exempted from entertainment tax. This might not work out for Robot, or will they add Robot to Tamil dictionary as well and provide entertainment tax exemption? Only time can tell!!

The meaning of Robot would be “mechanical servant”. So what would the name of Robot movie be after the name change? Any suggestions?

Animated Rajini fascinates

“You will have 100 times of Rajini’s mannerisms and style”, declared Soundarya Rajinikanth, the director of ‘Sultan the Warrior’, who met the media persons on January 13 at Inox Theatre in Chennai.

The occasion was launching the second teaser trailer of the 3D animated movie featuring superstar Rajinikanth in the lead role. The movie is a joint venture by Adlabs and Ocher Studios. The movie would be first of its kind in India.

While Soundarya has written the screenplay, it is none other than Rajini, who has written the story. Will this movie have Rajini style ‘punch’ dialogues? “Yes”, confirmed Soundarya with enthusiasm. “I have penned a couple of such dialogues”, added the girl.

Soundarya, the MD of Ocher Studios, informed the media that most of the animation work would be done in her studio located in Chennai. The quality of the animation will be on par with the international standards, said Sundarya with pride. The character modeling, texturing, visual effects, lighting, animation, and rendering are being done in in-house, she informed.

Soundarya said that her father is the only character being featured from the real life. All the others would be fictitious animated characters. The film, she further added, would have a heroine, and a comedian to make it a perfect entertainer. The movie has four songs penned by leading lyricist Vairamuthu set to tunes by A.R. Rahman. The art department is taken care by Thotta tharani.

As far as Rajini’s inimitable style and mannerisms, she assured that the 3D movie would have them in abundance. “In animation, the sky is the limit”, said the 23 year old entrepreneur.

Lata Rajinikanth, Chairperson of Ocher Studios gently intervened when a reporter asked a question comparing ‘Sultan’ and Shankar’s ‘Robot’. “The trailer resembles Robot”, was the remark made by the reporter. “Have you seen the movie Robot, sir?” was the question posed by Lata in response. “Robot is yet to be launched and no one knows what director Shankar has in mind”, she added.

Earlier, the trailer was screened to the packed audiences consisting media persons and the team members of Ocher Studios. The trailer promised a typical Rajini show with action ad style. A.R. Rahman’s music added to the grandeur of the project.

The multilingual film will be released by the end of 2008.