After Southern superstar Rajnikanth fell ill earlier this year, and was hospitalised for weeks, his doctors and family members had barred him from resuming work till the end of November.
But sources tell us that Rajnikanth in fact, is going to be in Mumbai today to shoot a cameo for Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film, Ra.One.
It looks like this will be his only appearance in front of a camera until he resumes shooting for Rana towards the end of November.
According to sources, Rajnikanth decided to disregard concerns over his health when Khan made a call to him, requesting that Rajni help him wrap up the remainder of the shooting.
Instead, of filming the sequence in Hyderabad, as had earlier been agreed on, it will now be shot at producer-director Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods Studio.
The source said, "The earlier plan was to shoot at Ramoji Rao studio in Hyderabad on October 4. But Rajni sir thought Gandhi Jayanti would be a more appropriate date to resume work. He thought shooting in Mumbai made more sense since the film is in Hindi."
When reminded of the long duration of the flight from Chennai to Mumbai, Rajnikanth is said to have quipped that flying to Mumbai would be as easy or difficult as getting to Hyderabad. "The Ra.One team thought shooting at Whistling Woods was safer, since Ghai is an old friend of Shah Rukh's and would ensure the shoot went off smoothly," said the source.
In order that the actor undergoes minimum strain, his shot is going to be wrapped up in a couple of hours. These scenes will later be digitally transferred onto scenes in the film, against a backdrop of other characters and ambience.
But the actor's family continues to claim that he will stay away from shooting till November. When contacted, his daughter Aishwarya said her father was not shooting for Ra.One.
The Ra.One team is tight-lipped about Rajnikanth's visit but sound designer for the film, Resul Pookutty admitted that the actor will shoot for the film today. "I am excited that Rajni sir will be part of Ra.One. The thought of seeing both superstars (Rajnikanth and Khan) come together in one frame is exciting."
Ghai confirmed that Rajnikanth would be shooting today. However, according to a source in Chennai who is associated with the film Rana, not everyone is happy with the new development.
"We are not in favour of Rajni flying down to shoot in Mumbai. But he won't listen. We will resume work on Rana only when we are absolutely sure he is up to it. We can't take any risk with his health," the source said.
