Rajinikanth to make a guest appearance in Aishwaryaa's Lal Salaam

Superstar Rajinikanth will be making a special appearance in daughter Aishwaryaa’s upcoming directorial, Lal Salaam. The movie, bankrolled by Lyca Productions, was launched on November 5. The actors and crew were present for the puja of the same, which was held in the morning.

In Lal Salaam, which has music by AR Rahman, Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth will play key roles. Rajinikanth’s last theatrical release was Annatthe, directed by Siva of Viswasam-fame. At present, he is shooting for Jailer, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar of Beast-fame. The buzz is that this one will hit the screens on April 14, 2023.

Kalyani Priyadarshan has been chosen to play the female protagonist in Lal Salaam, which centres on a cricketer, who is trying to make it to the top. (Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth were a part of the Celebrity Cricket League, too).

The technical department includes cinematographer Vishnu Rangasamy (of Selfie-fame), editor B Pravin Baaskar and costume designer Poornima Ramaswamy. Lal Salaam will be released in theatres in 2023, alongside biggies Jailer, Ponniyin Selvan 2, Varisu and Thunivu.

The elder daughter of Rajinikanth, Aishwaryaa, made her directorial debut, 3, which featured her estranged husband, Dhanush and Shruti Haasan. Later, she went on to helm Vai Raja Vai. In addition to directing the stunt choreographers-focused documentary Cinema Veeran, Aishwaryaa wrote the book, Standing on an Apple Box: The Story of a Girl Among the Stars. Further, she announced her Bollywood debut as a filmmaker, with Oh Saathi Chal, this year.

Notably, Rajinikanth and Lyca Productions share a good working relationship, following the blockbuster success of Shankar-directed 2.O.

Meanwhile, Vishnu Vishal has Chella Ayyavu's Gatta Kusthi, and Vikranth has been a part of movies, including Bakrid and Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu 2.

Aishwaryaa was cited, as stating in an interview, about her Superstar father: “Appa taught us to be confident in our skin. He strikes a very delicate balance between appearing real and acting like a movie star. His greatest strength is that he doesn't let the character he is playing impact him in real life. People relate to him since he has divided both.”

On her experience as a director, Aishwaryaa added, “My first movie was a heartfelt love story, and my second was an adventure heist. I'm working on another one where I'm trying to be as authentic as I can.”