Pa Ranjith will definitely come out on top: Rajinikanth on Kaala

Actor-politician Rajinikanth has said that Kaala is not a political film but it has politics in it.

Rajinikanth was speaking at the grand audio launch function of his upcoming film, Kaala (2018), held at the Young Men's Christian Association grounds in Nandanam on Wednesday night.

Talking about Kaala (2018) and how it happened, Rajinikanth said, "My daughter Soundarya was the one who told me about Pa Ranjith and it was then that we did Kabali (2016). When we did Kabali, Ranjith told me that he was not good at narrating a story and therefore gave me a bound script. In my 43 years in the film industry, nobody had given me a script. But when I read that story, it was so engaging."

"After Kabali, when I was wondering whom I should work with next, I called Ranjith and told him that while Kabali was about Tamils in Malaysia, why not explore the possibility of doing a film on the Tamils in Dharavi, who, at one point in time, consituted 85% of that population in that slum. Today, they constitute around 65%. He took time, went to Dharavi, stayed there for three months, observed their lifestyles from close quarters and then came back with the script of Kaala. When Kabali had released, I had told Ranjith, 'You have succeded as a director. It remains to be seen if we have succeeded as actors'. Now, before making Kaala, I told him that this has to be both, your film and mine."

"Kaala is not a political film but it has politics in it. After this film, Ranjith will definitely come out on top. He is not someone who wants to do well for himself alone. He is someone who wishes to lift everybody along with him to greater heights. He is a very socially conscious person, who wants to address the inequalities in society."

"Kaala will be a very different film. In fact, out of all my films, I have considered only two villain performances to have been really challenging. One was Antony (played by Raghuvaran) in Baasha and Neelambari (played by Ramya Krishnan) in Padaiyappa. I have added the character of Hari Dada (played by Nana Patekar) in this film to that list. What a performance! I was so enthralled by it that I felt challenged."

"The entire team has put in great effort to make this film in just 85 days despite facing several hurdles. There were rains that delayed the project as soon as we began work. Everyday, the production had to take care of about 2,000 people. Then, we had a film industry strike. But despite all this, we have finished the work successfully," he said.