At last the Thalaivar is back in front of camera. After Lingaa` that released last December Superstar Rajinikanth has started acting in his next film this time with a young director Pa.Ranjith. The film titled as Kabali` was officially launched on the auspicious Vinayakar Chathurthi day, which fell on yesterday with a formal Pooja in the Russian Cultural Center, Chennai.

Following the Pooja the shooting started. Scenes involving Rajinikanth and Kalaiayrasan of Madras` fame were shot. Also, some shots were canned with the Superstar sporting coat-suit attire.

The shooting will be taking place in the Russian Cultural center for the next few days and then the unit will move on to a popular studio in Vadapalani where a set resembling Malaysian locations will be erected to shoot some sequences. It is believed that as against the initial plan, the team will go to Malaysia only for the final schedule of the shooting.

Reliable sources suggest that Rajinikanth plays the role of Kabaleeshwaran` a aged gangster based in Myalapore, Chennai traveling to Malaysia to save Tamil laborers who have been cheated in Malaysia and face tortures. Probably for the first time the Superstar will be appearing in a role of his age for the predominant part of a film.

Kabali` stars Radhika Apte as the Superstar`s wife while Dhansika, Kalaiyarasan, Dinesh, Prakash Raj, Kishore and many other prominent actors form part of the supporting crew. Music is being scored by Santosh Narayanan. Cinematography will be handled by G.Murali while Praveen K.L. will take care of Editing.

The film is being produced by Kalaipuli S.Thanu on a grand scale.