Rajini says 'Kuselan' will be an important film for him

Pooja for "Kuselan" shoot was performed at the Vinayaka temple on the premises of AVM Studios, Chennai, on March 7. A.V.M. Saravanan started the camera and director K. Balachander 'clapped'.

KB's Kavithalaya and Seven Arts will be jointly producing the film under the direction of P. Vasu. Film Chamber president K.R.G, Tamil Film Producers Council president Rama Narayanan, directors Shankar, K.S. Ravikumar, Suresh Krishna and Charan were among the film personalities who attended the function.

Rajinikanth, talking to mediapersons, said "Kuselan", (Tamil remake of the Malayalam film "Katha Parayumbol" featuring Mammootty and Sreenivasan) would be an important film in his acting career. "Many in the film field have expressed their happiness and blessed me on learning that I would be acting in a film for Kavithalaya and Seven Arts."

Rajini said that though he had acted in several films, "Raghavendra" brought him 'respect' among the educated and the elders. "Nettrikkan" received appreciation from Kannada icon Rajkumar and Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan and others. "Annamalai" raised his status to "superstar". "Muthu" crossed the borders of India making him known world over. "Kuselan" too would bring him laurels, he added.

He said that the story of "Kuselan" is important. The business angle apart, "the reason why Vasu and Balachander keep saying that I will play an important role in the film is that fans coming to see the movie would not be disappointed".

Rajini said that the first hero in "Kuselan" is Pasupathi. "His part is 50%, Vadivelu's 25% and mine 25%." The name of his character is Ashokraj. The film's climax would be as thrilling as that of "Chandramukhi", he added.

He referred to Meena who would play an important role and said she had paired with him in a number of films. "When will you act as my mother?" he had asked her once in a lighter vein. "In this film she would act as a mother, a beautiful mother, but not as my mother."

Director Vasu said the shooting would start on March 15 at the Ramoji Rao Film City, Hyderabad. Though it is a remake of "Katha Parayumbol", some changes have been made in the story. The Tamil story revolves around Rajini. He would appear only after two or three reels, but his introduction would be grand. Prabhu also would play an important role. Meena would act as the wife of Pasupathi and mother of two children. Nayanthara pairs with Rajini.

The cast also includes Vadivelu, Geetha, 'Nizhalgal' Ravi, Vijayakumar, Thyagu, Chinni Jayanth and Vaiyapurii.