Rajinikanth starrer Annaatthe has completed 50 days. On the special occasion, the superstar decided to share some behind-the-scenes anecdotes from during the filming. Also known as Thalaiva, the actor recalled the experiences while working on the sets at the peak of the pandemic. The COVID-19 related restrictions brought about major upheavals in the process of production in projects world over.
Speaking on the voice-based app, Hoote, Rajinikanth narrated the ordeal of the team when members of the crew and cast started testing Covid positive. The film went on floors in December of 2019 and the makers decided to take a planned break after shooting for 35 days. The plans were majorly disrupted when the country went into a lockdown in March 2020. Rajinikanth mentioned that the shooting did not resume for another nine months.
It was only in December, 2020, when the filming started again in Hyderabad, the team exercised more caution and did not take off face masks during rehearsals.
The schedule continued for an uninterrupted two weeks when his co-star Keerthy Suresh’s assistant contracted COVID-19. “He had developed the Covid infection five days ago but he told no one. Everyone was in shock.” Rajinikanth shared that he worked closely with Keerthy, who played the role of his sister inAnnaatthe.
“Director Siva and producer Kalanithi Maran were upset and immediately canceled the shoot and began to test everyone,” he added. The climax shot went on for 18 days and involved around 800 junior artists. “We shot the climax for 18 days. It was challenging to conduct Covid tests for everyone,” he added.
Rajinikanth got tested and his results were negative. But he had to remain in observation for a couple of days as doctors wanted to be on the safe side by conducting a few more tests.
Directed by Siva, Annaatthe also features Nayanthara, Khushbu, Meena, Jagapathi Babu, Prakash Raj, Vela Ramamoorthy, among others.
