Rajini to star alongside 7 heroines in Rana

Superstar Rajinikanth would have as many as 7 heroines, three of them opposite him, in his upcoming film ‘Rana’, it was revealed. Director K.S. Ravikumar, who last directed Rajini in the 1999 superhit film ‘Padaiyappa’, would be directing the superstar for the third time in ‘Rana’. ‘Muthu’, which released in the mid-nineties, is the first film that brought the two together.

During an informal chat with journalists, Ravikumar said that there have been quite a lot of stuff written in the press about the film though most of them were far from the truth.“Some vested interests have been spreading rumours that the animation film Sultan: The Warrior is being transformed to ‘Rana’. This is not true at all.

“Some time back, Rajini Sir narrated a script to me which was very compelling. I developed on it and the theme of ‘Rana’ was borne. ‘Sultan’ is directed by Soundarya and she is also providing the technical inputs for the graphic sequences in ‘Raana’. We neither spoke to Bollywood’s Rekha nor did she refuse to be part of the film.

“We didn’t talk to Asin either. We have been talking to many other heroines to star in this period-type film and would zero in on 7 heroines finally. Except Deepika Padukone, none of the other heroines is finalized as yet. I spoke to Vidya Balan but haven’t yet decided about casting her in the film.

“This is my third film with Rajini sir and the budget of the film is expected to cross Rs.100 crores. The shooting is likely to start either from mid-April or early May in London,” concludes Ravikumar.