With pongal around the corner, superstar Rajinkanth is all set to double the celebration with his most awaited film Petta. Unlike his other movies this one stands out in many aspects like be it the first ever collaboration of thalaiva with S Thirunavukarasu, continuation of the old character instead of a brand new one or the heavy star cast for the first time for a Rajini-movie, the film is a nostalgia as well as a treat for the fans.
Best known as Thirru, S Thirunavukarasu, is the most popular cinematographer of the time and also happens to be a biggest fan of Rajini fulfilling his dream to work with him, thus Petta can best be described as a fan’s gift to his idol.
Director Karthik Subbaraj explained that Kaali, Rajinikanth’s in character Petta, is a tribute to his character in the film Mullum Malarum. This film was a breakthrough for Rajinikanth as an actor; he plays Kali, a troublemaker who clashes with his superior at a power plant. Subbaraj says that the film has many shots that the fans will relate to and will take them back toh thalaiva’s initial days, from his stylish walk, the laugh and his glass flip everything results in a roar from the audience.
The director revealed that he roped in Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vijay Sethupathi as antagonists because the story needed two strong villains. Rajinikanth believed that it is important to have strong antagonists for a film to have the ‘kick’. Petta will mark as the debut of Nawaz in southern industry as he plays a pivotal role of a character called Singaar Singh in Petta. A huge starcast is usually an unusual thing for a Rajini fil, but petta stars Vijay Sethupathi, Trisha and Nawazuddin Siddiqui among others.
Rajinikanth too spoke about the fim saying, ‘When Sembian and Kannan from Sun Pictures came home and requested me to act in their production, I immediately gave my nod. Karthik Subbaraj had pitched a story to me. It was on my mind and as I listened to stories from other filmmakers, I wasn’t quite satisfied,’ he said.
‘Then, I called Karthik again this year and asked him to narrate. This time, he stunned me with an excellent, well-developed version of the story he pitched earlier,’ the 67-year-old recalled. ‘Karthik has a very different style of storytelling. He directed this film like a true Rajinikanth fan. Petta is an entertaining throwback to the kind of films I did in 1990s. Karthik has extracted from me the kind of work I used to perform three to four decades ago,’ he added.
Produced by Sun Pictures, Petta is slated to release on 11 January 2019, and will clash at the box office with yet another super-star Ajith’s Viswasam, although the humongous fan-following is in favour of Rajini only time will tell which film outshines the other.
So get ready to get Rajnified!
