"Thalaivar 168” now has an official title! Annaatthe is the title of Rajini’s next film with director Siva, produced by Sun Pictures. The title reveal motion poster comes with exciting music by Imman that suits the “Rajini style” perfectly.
Annaatthe is a respectful way of addressing one’s superior and is considered to have its origins in the Madras dialect of the Tamil language. The title in Tamil has tilaks, indicating that Rajini might play some sort of don or an influential person in this film. In his last film, he had played a police officer.
The title may also remind some of Kamal’s ‘Annathe Adurar’ song from 1989 film Apoorva Sagodharargal. This song was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.
While not much is known about this project yet, it is being speculated that the film will be set in a rural background. Siva, known for his successful collaborations with actor Ajith, had earlier directed the blockbuster hit of 2019, Viswasam. Interestingly, Viswasam had clashed with Rajini’s Petta in 2019 in the box-office.
Also starring Nayanthara, Khushbu, Keerthy Suresh, Meena, Prakash Raj and Soori, Annaatthe marks Rajin’s first time collaboration with the director. His previous film was Darbar with AR Murugadoss that did average business at the box-office.
Annaatthe will mark Khushbu’s return to Tamil cinema after a gap of almost 10 years. The star will be working with Rajini after a gap of 28 years. Khushbu, an actor-politician now, had paired opposite Rajinikanth in the blockbuster Annamalai, besides Pandian in the past.
This will be the third time that Nayanthara and Rajinikanth are acting together in a film. First they teamed up in Chandramukhi, which released in 2005, and then in Darbar, which hit theatres last year. Nayanthara has also made cameo appearances in Rajini’s Sivaji (2007) and Kuselan (2008) earlier.
(With inputs from Digital Native)