Rajinikanth starts dubbing for Pa Ranjith's Kaala; final cut to be ready by February, released locked for August

Rajinikanth has started dubbing for his upcoming film Kaala in which he plays an aged gangster. “Almost all the actors have dubbed for their scenes. On Friday, Rajinikanth started dubbing for his portions, he is expected to complete his work by next week”, says a source close to the team. The film’s director, Ranjith of Kabali fame, has selected the state-of-the-art Knack Studios for the dubbing and post-production works. On December 27, Ranjith commenced the dubbing process with a formal pooja. A week back, National Award winning actor Samuthirakani, who plays a close aide to Rajinikanth in the film completed dubbing for his scenes in the film. [caption id=“attachment_4313813” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Rajinikanth dubs for Kaala.[/caption] When Rajinikanth started Kaala, there was a buzz in the media circle that Kaala is loosely based on Haji Mastan, a Tamil gangster who had high regards among Tamil communities in the Matunga, Sion, Dharavi, and Koliwada areas in Mumbai. But as soon as Sundar Shaekhar, who claimed to be the foster son of Haji Mastan sent a legal notice, Kaala’s producers clarified that the film is a fictional story and not based on any real-life person. Rajinikanth’s character name in the film is said to Karikaalan, a leader who fights for the rights of the oppressed Tamil community in Mumbai. Eswari Rao plays Rajinikanth’s wife in the film, which has a long list of actors including Nana Patekar, Huma Qureshi, Anjali Patil, Sukanya, Sayaji Shinde, Ravi Kale, Yatin Karyekar and Sampath Raj. Sources say Nana Patekar plays a role with negative shades in the film. Unlike Ranjith’s Kabali, an emotional action drama, the director is said to have added more mass elements to elevate the stardom of Rajinikanth and dialogues are expected to be more powerful criticising the corrupt system. We hear that Rajinikanth loved Ranjith’s dialogues in Kabali, especially the way the director voices out for the oppressed community and unity of Tamils. “Kaala will be a perfect film for fans, they can expect some great punchlines from the actor but at the same time, things will not overshadow the core plot”, adds the source. The final cut of the film will be ready in February and then, music composer Santhosh Narayanan will start the re-recording process. Ranjith is planning to handover the final copy to the film’s producer and Rajinikanth’s son-in-law Dhanush in March. As a matter of fact, Kaala was originally scheduled for April release but because of the sudden postponement of 2.0, Dhanush has now pushed the film’s release to August.