Tamil Super Hero RajaniKanth Latest Movie Kochadaiiyaan First Look Poster

Kochadaiiyaan (Translation: King with long, curly mane ) is an upcoming Tamil period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth in three roles alongside R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff and Nassar. The film, which is expected to be shot with motion capture in 3D, will have cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack will be composed by A. R. Rahman. The film will be dubbed and simultaneously released in Telugu (as Vikrama Simha), Malayalam and English,  and will also be released in Hindi and Japanese. As of 2012, Italian and Spanish versions of the film have also been announced. Shooting for the film was finished by the end of February 2013, and post-production works are currently going on at London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and mostly China.

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Cast

Rajnikanth as Kochadaiiyaan and Rana
R. Sarathkumar
Deepika Padukone as Vadhana Devi
Shobana
Aadhi
Rukmini Vijayakumar
Jackie Shroff
Nassar
Production

Development
Rajinikanth's next film, after Shankar's Enthiran (2010), was supposed to be Rana, a historical drama film to be directed by K. S. Ravikumar and dually-produced by Soundarya R. Ashwin's Ocher Picture Productions and Eros Entertainment. However, Rajinikanth became ill and was treated for dehydration and exhaustion at a hospital, resulting in postponement of Rana's filming. On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement.  The following day, she announced that her father's next film would be titled Kochadaiyaan and that she was "[grateful and] excited to be directing [her] father". A tentatively scheduled release period of August 2012 was also announced. The film was finalised to be a co-production of Eros Entertainment and Media One Global. Soundarya further stated that K. S. Ravikumar had worked with her father and herself on the script of the film.  With regards to the film's title, Ravikumar claimed that it drew reference to an alternate name of Hindu deity Shiva, while also being partly inspired by the name of the Pandya Dynasty king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran, and that the plot would be a fictional account with small references to Indian history.  The director clarified that Kochadaiiyaan was not related to the same-titled history series being published by the Tamil magazine Kumudam.  In May 2012, Soundarya announced that Kochadaiiyaan is a prequel to Rana.
Casting
For the female lead role, Anushka Shetty was initially approached, but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film.  It was then rumoured that Asin Thottumkal and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress.  Soundarya R. Ashwin approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012,  who was not able to give her dates and the team reapproached Balan.  Despite reports that Kaif was finalised, Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.  The film began to increase its casting profile after Malayalam actor Prithviraj was rumoured to have been signed to play an important role in the film. The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam (2007) and Eeram (2009), in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was "a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood". Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role,  with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011. She, however, opted-out a couple months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar, who made her debut in the film Bommalattam (2008), was signed in her place. R. Sarathkumar accepted Soundarya's offer for an important role in the film while veteran actor Nassar was recruited in the film as well for a supporting role.
Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film. Soundarya confirmed that the former was added to the cast saying that she was the "only choice for the role" as the character was written keeping her in mind. Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film. Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who was last seen in Tamil cinema playing a crucial role in the critically acclaimed Aaranya Kaandam (2011), was also signed up for an antagonistic role. Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him.
Peter Hein was chosen as the film's action choreographer, while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film's background score and soundtrack. Rajiv Menon was recruited as the film's cinematographer. Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan.  She handpicked 42 students from Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai for the task, besides 50 experienced persons from the Jacob College of Fine Arts. 60 concept artistes were already reportedly working for the film.