Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on Wednesday praised his Kaala co-star Nana Patekar. He was talking at the audio launch of his upcoming movie Kaala directed by Pa. Ranjith.
Heaping praises, Rajinikanth compared Patekar's performance to those by his powerful on-screen adversaries, the late Raghuvaran and Ramya Krishnan.
"In my entire career, only two actors challenged me as villain in my films. One is Raghuvaran's character of Mark Antony in 'Baasha' and Ramya Krishnan's as Neelambari in 'Padaiyappa.' Now, Nana Patekar has done a great job. I was thrilled by his performance and thoroughly enjoyed it," he said.
Talking about the movie Rajinikanth revealed that it was he who had approached Ranjith for directing the movie. "First, I listened to a script from Vetrimaaran ('Visaaranai' director). He narrated a fantastic script, but it was politically driven. I was not planning to make my political foray then. So, I wanted to do a different film. Then, I called Ranjith and told him about the slums in (Mumbai's) Dharavi and the Tamils residing there for years," he said.
"I warned Ranjith that Kaala should be a Rajinikanth film in Ranjith's style unlike 'Kabali' which was a Ranjith movie. There is politics in 'Kaala' but it's not a political drama. Ranjith is a great human being who cares for his community and his people a lot," Rajinikanth revealed.
The veteran actor said the director camped in Dharavi slums for weeks to do research for the film.
Rajinikanth, who announced his political plunge on New Year's eve, clarified that the film is not political in nature.
About the impending announcement on the name and other details of his political party, Rajinikanth said the date is yet to arrive and "good days" are not far off for Tamil Nadu.