Filmmaker AR Murugadoss is known for his distinct casting choices, especially when it comes to roping in actors to play antagonists in his film. From Neil Nithin Mukesh in Kaththi to Anurag Kashyap in Akira and SJ Suryah in Spyder, he’s always picked, unusual actors to play villains.

The latest update is that well-known Bollywood star Suniel Shetty has been roped in to play the main antagonist in superstar Rajinikanth’s Darbar, and that the Hera Pheri actor will join the sets from the second schedule which will begin from May 29 in Mumbai. It’s worth mentioning that Suniel Shetty was recently signed to play the antagonist in Kichcha Sudeep’s Kannada actioner Pailwan.

The makers are yet to make an official announcement regarding roping in Suniel, however, reliable sources from the film’s unit have already confirmed the news. Last month, it was confirmed that Prateik Babbar will play one of the antagonists in the film.

It is believed that Prateik will play Suniel’s brother in the film which also stars Nayanthara. Prateik has already joined the sets and he had said it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to share screen space with Rajinikanth, who returns to play a cop after 25 years in Darbar.

The film has music by Anirudh Ravichandran and this will be his second successive film with Rajinikanth after Petta. The latest is that superstar’s lucky mascot singer SP Balasubramaniam will be rendering the intro song in the film.

While Santosh Sivan will crank the camera, Sreekar Prasad will take care of editing. The film was originally supposed to be bankrolled by Sun Pictures, who backed out after the recent Sarkar controversy.

Lyca Productions, the makers of 2.0, took over the reins of the project and are going all out to make this a lavish project. This would be the third outing for Lyca Productions with Rajinikanth after Kaala and 2.0. The film is scheduled for release on January 9, 2020, coinciding with Pongal.

(Content provided by Digital Native)