Rajinikanth, dressed in black, flicks his hand as he says, “Chumma Kizhi!” into the mic, and this is how the first single from his upcoming Darbar begins. This title song has been composed by Anirudh Ravichander and this is the second time that he is composing for a Rajini film. Interestingly, Rajnikanth has very few songs to his credit as a singer. He made his debut as a playback singer in his 1992 film Mannan for the song “Adikkuthu Kuliru”.
Getting back to “Chumma Kizhi”, the song keeps up with Thalaivar intro-song traditions, and has been sung by SP Balasubrahmanyam. Singer SPB takes over following Rajini’s cue and the song has all the elements of a typical Rajini intro-song. The song’s lyrics also have the word “Rajini” in it. Lyricist Vivek and Anirudh also join the chorus singers.
Anirudh had previously collaborated with singer SPB in Petta as well. However, fans were quick to point out that SPB’s portions were too little in that song. “Chumma Kizhi” fixes that complaint.
The song ends with Rajini saying “Chumma Kizhi” in an even more stylish modulation and the video ends with Rajini congratulating Anirudh for the power-packed song saying, “Surely, this is going to rip in theatres!”. The Telugu version of the song, titled "Dhummu Dhooli" was also released.
AR Murugadoss’s Darbar, starring Rajinikanth in the role of a cop after almost 25 years is being produced by Lyca Productions. This would be the third outing for Lyca Productions with Rajinikanth after they distributed Kaala and produced the magnum opus 2.0.
Darbar, starring Rajinikanth and Nayanthara in the lead, is one of the most closely followed projects of 2019. The film’s title and first look were released in April this year.
The film also has Suniel Shetty, Prateik Babbar, Yogi Babu, Jeeva, Prakash Raj, Nivetha Thomas, Dalip Tahil, Soori, Harish Uthaman, Manobala, Suman, Anandaraj, Rao Ramesh and Bose Venkat in the cast.
Suniel Shetty and Prateik Babbar play the antagonists and it is believed that Prateik will play Suniel’s brother in the film. Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s father Yograj Singh has also been roped in and according to sources, Yograj will be playing a very important role in the film.
Rajinikanth’s next after Darbar will be under the Sun Pictures banner with director Siva. The project has been currently dubbed as "Thalaivar 168". The latest speculations are that Rajinikanth might collaborate with director Gautham Vasudev Menon next. An official confirmation on this is awaited.
Darbar is expected to release for Pongal 2020.
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