Superstar Rajinikanth celebrates his 70^th birthday on Saturday, and the actor's wide fan following made sure that day was celebrated in a grand manner. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, many celebrities have taken to Twitter to wish the superstar on his birthday. Sun Pictures, who are bankrolling Rajnikanth's next Annaatthe, has released a special video for his birthday, featuring director Siva who conveyed his wishes superstar and revealed that the shooting of the film would resume from December 15. Rajinikanth will be part of this schedule, which will take place in Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad.

Annaatthe was officially launched last December in Chennai in a low-key affair, and shooting had started in February, before it had to come to a standstill in light of the pandemic. The team started work in the last few weeks, but had to halt again as director Siva’s father passed away. Recently, Rajinikanth announced that he would be entering politics, and that he would announce the party name on December 31. During the press meet for the same, Rajnikanth mentioned that about 40% of the shooting for Annaatthe is remaining, and that he would complete it soon.

#Annaatthe shooting resumes from Dec 15th!@rajinikanth @directorsiva #HBDSuperstarAnnaatthe#HBDSuperstarRajinikanth pic.twitter.com/GhfP9FV71W

— Sun Pictures (@sunpictures) December 12, 2020

It is widely speculated that Annaatthe will be set in the backdrop of a village, with trademark ‘Rajinikanth’ elements. The film’s star cast also includes Keerthy Suresh, Meena, Kushboo, Nayanthara, Prakash Raj, Soori, Sathish and Vela Ramamoorthy.  Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who was last seen playing the baddie in Vijay’s Bigil, will most likely be seen as the antagonist in this film, as per reports.  

Annaatthe will have music by D Imman who had previously worked with Siva in Viswasam. Siva's standard technical accomplices, cinematographer Vetri and editor Ruben, have joined him for this project as well.

Rajinikanth was last seen playing an angry cop out to avenge his daughter’s death in Darbar, which was directed by AR Murugadoss. The film featured Prateik Babbar, Nivetha Thomas and Yogi Babu in crucial roles. Anirudh Ravichander had composed music for Darbar, and Santosh Sivan cranked the camera. Despite grossing over Rs 200 crore worldwide, Darbar had a lukewarm response at the box office. Darbar, which marked the first collaboration of Rajinikanth and AR Murugadoss, had incurred losses of Rs 70 crore. It's said to be one of the biggest losses in the star’s career.

(Content provided by Digital Native)