Media reports are false! Nothing is wrong between South superstar Rajnikanth and Bollywood’s Akshay Kumar who are working together for the first time on Tamil filmmaker S. Shankar’s sci-fi thriller 2.0. The rumours began after Akshay announced that his home production, the comedy social drama Padman based on his wife Twinkle Khanna’s bestselling novel The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, would release on January 26, 2018.
This date was originally meant for the worldwide premiere of 2.0 which was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Hindi with an estimate budget of Rs. 450 crore – making it the most expensive film in Indian cinema. It is expected to be released in 15 languages thereby making 2.0 also the most anticipated Indian film.
But, soon after the film’s music was spectacularly released at a grand music concert by A. R. Rahman at Dubai’s Burj Park on October 26, Akshay went ahead and announced that Republic Day in 2018 would be the release date of Padman. Trade sources began speculating why a big hero like Akshay would want the release of two of his films on the same day.
The buzz that went around was that 2.0 would not be ready for release on January 26, 2018. That’s why Akshay seized the date for Padman. It was also whispered in Bollywood and Kollywood that Rajnikanth and Shankar were displeased with Akshay for making this announcement because trade circles immediately began reading between the lines.
Now confirmation that all is well between Rajnikanth and Akshay comes from the unit of 2.0 itself. Sources from the Tamil film industry working with Shankar say that the Thalaiva and Khiladi have a great rapport and that was evident all through the shooting of 2.0. They said while Akshay showed great respect for Rajnikanth, the South superstar had much affection for the antagonist of his film from Bollywood. As proof, they shared this exclusive picture of Rajnikanth and Akshay taken in Dubai for the music launch.
Meanwhile, the sources also said that 2.0 was pushed for release to April 2018. Shooting for the film has been finished, but the visual effects work is considerable, and that is causing the delay. That is the only reason why 2.0 could not meet its release date in January 26, 2018.