AFP/Chennai
Tamil megastar Rajnikanth is to begin work on a new film, his studio said yesterday, hoping to replicate the success of last year’s record-breaking Endhiran (Robot). Eros International said shooting for Rana (Monarch) would get under way today in Chennai, once the cast and crew had conducted a ritual “puja” or prayer ceremony. As well as the evergreen former bus conductor-turned-actor, the film will feature leading Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and music by the Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman, the studio said in a statement. The award-winning creative director Charles Darby, who worked on Hollywood blockbusters including Titanic, the Harry Potter series and Minority Report, will oversee special effects, it added. “Rana will be a live action magnum opus with Rajnikanth playing a triple role,” the studio said. The film, due out next year, will be in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu, following the successful formula of Endhiran, which collected Rs950mn ($21mn) in its opening weekend - an Indian box office record. Endhiran, a science-fiction fantasy, was touted as the most expensive Indian film ever made at $35mn, but there was no indication of the budget for Rana. A star of more than 150 films, Rajinikanth, 60, has carved out a niche as a moustachioed action hero. His fans take hero-worship to an extraordinary level, praying in front of life-size cardboard cut-outs of the actor and making offerings of milk to Hindu gods for the success of his latest release.