Rajini's next film to be out on Diwali?

Rajinikanth's 168th film 'Annathe' which was being shot on a long schedule in Hyderabad had to suspend its next leg of shooting at Kolkata and Pune, owing to the coronavirus scare. Reports from Chennai dailies reveal that the film is 60 per cent complete and its date of release has been pushed from Dasara 2020 to Diwali, which is on November 14.

Directed by Siva, who has had many successful films with Ajith Kumar, the film has a rural background and is expected to be a family drama. The top heroines who acted with the Superstar in the 1990s – Khushboo, Meena – are all there in the film, not to speak of the recent favourite Nayantara, who has been with Rajinikanth in many films since the 2005 blockbuster ' Chandramukhi'. Keerthy Suresh, who is now on a low profile model plays a pivotal role with Thalaivar, which is befitting the age gap between the two stars.

With film budgets of Rajinikanth touching the skies, in film after film, there has been a clamour in the trade circles of Tamil Nadu for wanting a reduction in his fee, which is reportedly a cool Rs 100 crore. With ' Darbar' proving that even icons like Rajini have a limit to their pulling power at the box office, the post-pandemic scene in the cinema world promises to be one to watch out for, given that many films are awaiting release since six weeks now.