The venue was high profile. So were the VVIP guests at the do. Wine flowed and waiters passed on hor d’oeuvres as the formal sit-down party began for the launch of the film. The event started off with special numbers performed by a bevy of white dancers specially brought in to up the glamour quotient of the evening. As lasers beamed they danced to the tunes of the songs from Rajini’s various films till Jagapati Babu walked in to begin the formal event.

He invited the special guests of the evening, Rajinikant, megastar Chiranjeevi, Union Minister Dasari Narayana Rao, Venkatesh, Ram Charan among others on to the stage, which had a huge cut-out of Rajini as the backdrop. Dressed in black for the event, the stars walked up together through the smoke-filled conference hall, amidst flashing shutterbugs.

The occasion was the formal launch of the yet-to-be-titled film being made by Vyjayanti Movies with Rajinikant and Jagapati Babu in the lead. A remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Paryambole, it has Rajini and Jagapati playing bum chums. The film will go on the floors soon and P Vasu would be directing it both in Tamil and Telugu.

Former Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu was the first one to be formally invited to speak about the film and the superstar. After wishing the film fraternity, he spoke of his association with Rajini and of his positive energy. He also spoke of how he was surprised by Rajini’s popularity in Japan and other countries during his trips abroad. Babu then talked of how impressed he was with Aswini Dutt for organizing a mega event and making wonderful films.

Then, it was the turn of megastar Chiranjeevi to speak a few words about his friend. He surprised all by mentioning about a special day he spent with Rajini during Deepavali. The megastar had no qualms about disclosing how Rajini spent a day with him giving pep talk, when he was mildly depressed. Chiranjeevi thanked Rajini for taking the time out and infusing positive energy into him. He was also happy for Aswini Dutt for managing to get Rajinikant to act in his banner and hoped that the film would do really well, like all his earlier films. He also spoke of his own association with Vyjayanti Movies and how much he cherished his friendship with its producer Aswini Dutt. Chiranjeevi particularly chose to mention the spectacular show that Dutt had put up for the movie launch.

The megaphone was then passed over to Dasari and it was his turn to speak about his impressions of the superstar. He spoke of the time when they had spent a couple of months together and explained how fascinated he was about Rajini’s philosophical bent of mind. He could not praise Aswini Dutt enough for putting up a starry razzmatazz and said he was the best in the industry when it came to innovative marketing ideas and ostentatious films.

Finally, it was the turn of superstar Rajinikant at the mike. Modest as ever, he spoke a few words and thanked one and all for accepting him and loving him over the years. He said he was very happy returning to the Telugu industry after so many years. He also took the opportunity to make a dig at his long-time friend Mohan Babu for encouraging him to quit Telugu films and concentrate on Tamil films. He also laughed off recounting an incident where Mohan Babu had advised him against buying a plot in Jubilee Hills.

Dr D Ramanaidu, Rajasekhar, Paruchuri Gopalakrishna, Ramesh Prasad, Allu Arvind, Meher Ramesh, Venu Madhav, Tanikella Bharani were among the others present on the occasion.