Sonu Sood As The Main Baddie In Rajnikanth's Rana

Dabangg is box-office history. And now Sonu Sood is gearing up to create history again with the Hindi-Tamil-Telugu trilingual Rana, which features Rajnikanth in a triple role, and has Sood as the main baddie.

He was confirmed a week ago.“I’ve seen Robot twice, once with my friends and then with my family. And I was spellbound by the film’s special effects and Rajni sir’s star charisma.

In a week’s time, I start shooting Buddha with Mr Bachchan (Amitabh Bachchan) and then, in April, I will be working with Rajni sir.

Imagine a small-town boy with no film background working with legends that we’ve grown up idolising and still in awe of. I feel blessed,” marvels Sood.

Rajnikanth was reportedly keen on casting the Bollywood actor for the much-coveted negative role after seeing him as Cheddi Singh in Dabangg and Pasupathi in the Tamil blockbuster, Arundhati.

He was also impressed with his act in Jodhaa-Akbar, as Rana is a period-action film along the lines of the Hollywood hit, 300.

“Rajni sir hugged me the day we met and said he was looking forward to working with me. I can’t wait for the camera to roll,” says Sood.

Rana, directed by KS Ravi Kumar of Muthu and Narasimha fame, will be shot in India and abroad with foreign technicians. It’s touted to be the most expensive Indian film ever made.

Deepika Padukone is the leading lady, and the film has music by AR Rahman. Robot cameraman Ratnavelu returns as the cinematographer.

The film is being co-produced by Eros International and Ocher Studios, the production house run by Soundarya Rajinikanth.

Meanwhile, work on the script of Dabangg 2 is on and it is expected to start by the year-end. Cheddi’s twin returns to avenge his death in the sequel and Sood says, “Dabangg is a huge brand today and the responsibility will now be greater.”