Machante Maalakha actor Soubin Shahir on Coolie: ‘When I came face-to-face with Rajinikanth…’

In the last 6-7 months, Malayalam actor Soubin Shahir has been spending more time on the set of Superstar Rajinikanth’s next, Coolie. Soubin’s playing a character called Dayal in the action-packed gangster flick, which, as of now, is set for a summer of 2025 release, but will more likely hit theatres in the second half of the year. It’s a role that was envisioned for Fahadh Faasil, which he could not take up owing to his busy schedule, and then came to Soubin.

Also read: Coolie: Soubin Shahir’s location still with Lokesh Kanagaraj wins the internet 

Soubin Shahir: Coolie has a lot of surprises in store for audiences

Working on the Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial has been quite an experience says Soubin, when asked about being on set with Rajinikanth, during the promotions of Machante Maalakha, while speaking to Movie World Media. Getting to be a part of a Rajinikanth film was not even in his wildest dreams, says the actor, adding that besides the cast that’s been officially announced, including Nagarjuna, Upendra, there are quite a few surprise elements as far as the actors on board goes.

“You’d literally shiver with nerves and excitement at the thought that you have combination sequences with stars of this calibre. Honestly, I did not dream I’d ever get to do this, especially that I would, someday, be face-to-face with Rajini sir. I was such a bundle of nerves that I’d get my lines wrong. I was so stunned in amazement seeing him walking into a frame that I had to ask for a retake, because I forgot what I was to say,” says Soubin, adding that Coolie is a big film in terms of cast and scale.

Check out: 8 movies that made Soubin Shahir great 

These jitters apart, the actor says that it gave him immense joy to have got the opportunity to share screen space with Rajinikanth. Most importantly, he’s a part of a real good team, he says. Soubin says that principal photography of Coolie is likely to be wrapped up in the end of February or early March. In Malayalam, Soubin will next be seen in Machante Maalakha, which releases on February 28