Tamil super hero Rajnikanth to act in 3D animation film

Chennai, Jan 14: India gets its first 3-D superhero, when south Indian film star Rajnikanth dons an animated persona for a forthcoming film titled- 'Sultan the Warrior'.

Rajnikanth, a regional star whose flamboyance is unequalled by Bollywood actors and who may have even more fans than super star Amitabh Bachchan, has become the first actor to be animated ever in Indian entertainment history. His unique acting style is characterised by a trademark gesture - toss a cigarette in the air, catch it in his lips, then light it with a match struck on a shirtsleeve.

'Sultan the Warrior' will also see the superstar-actor fighting off villains in his trademark style, though with a lot more stylish gestures thrown in for the viewer's delight.

Directing Rajnikanth in his animated venture is none other than his daughter Soundarya, who is debuting with 'Sultan the Warrior'.

According to her, the film is a 'daughter's gift to a father', whose personal life reads like a movie script - he started as a poor bus conductor in Bangalore with a penchant for acting, before making it big in the glamour world.

"Sultan the Warrior is the first of its kind. If you were to look into Indian entertainment history, the first actor to ever be animated will be my father. He's the first actor in the whole of South-East Asia to get animated. And this kind of a film genre has never been attempted in India before," said Soundarya.

“And with this, we hope to set a benchmark for Indian animation. There have been animation films before in India but, not of quality that we are trying to achieve with this movie," she added.

A complete work of fiction, the film is being made in an animation studio in Chennai, on a budget of 10 million U.S. dollars, with a crew of 80 members working on it.

The makers are attempting to create a benchmark for Indian animation films, by taking care to produce a good quality film, one that would burst the myth that only Hollywood can churn out superlative animations.

Work on 'Sultan the Warrior' is expected to be over by the end of the year and the film is slated to be release in 12 different world languages.

ANI