Superstar Rajinikanth had a surprise announcement in store for audiences on Thursday, February 10. The actor announced that he is teaming up with Doctor fame director Nelson Dilipkumar for his upcoming film, which has been tentatively titled Thalaivar 169. The film has Anirudh on board as the music composer. Bankrolled by Sun Pictures, a new motion poster featuring the trio was unveiled on Thursday. The film marks the first-time collaboration between Nelson and Rajinikanth.
Nelson had recently teamed up with composer Anirudh for the dark comedy flick Doctor, starring Sivakarthikeyan in the lead, as well as actor Vijay’s upcoming film Beast. Further details about the cast and crew of Thalaivar 169 are awaited.
Rajinikanth was last seen in Annatthe, which was helmed by director Siva of Siruthai fame. The film also starred actor Keerthy Suresh and Nayanthara in significant roles. Keerthy Suresh played Rajinikanth’s sister, while Nayanthara was paired opposite Rajinikanth. The film hit the big screens on November 4, marking the festival of Deepavali and was later released on streaming platform Netflix. The film opened to mixed responses from critics and audiences.
Watch the first-look motion poster of Thalaivar 169:
Following the release of Annatthe, Rajinikanth shared an audio post about the film on Hoote, a voice-based social media platform co-founded by his daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth. Speaking about how the collaboration between him and director Siva took shape, Rajinikanth said on November 15, “After watching Viswasam which deeply moved me, I checked with Siva if he has a script for me and he said he wants to deliver a hit film. He mentioned that it was very easy to deliver a hit with me. I was stunned because no one had said that to me before. Many directors say they will try to give out a hit film but no one has said it's easy to deliver.”
He further explained that director Siva wanted Rajinikanth to appear in a village setting for the first time since films like Muthu, Annamalai and Padayappa. Annatthe was also produced by Sun Pictures. The supporting cast included actors Meena, Khushboo, Soori, Jackie Shroff and Prakash Raj.