Rajini, Kamal unveil statue of Tamil cinema doyen Balachander

Actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth on Friday jointly unveiled a bust statue of late filmmaker K. Balachander here.

The statue was unveiled at the newly-inaugurated office of Kamal Haasan, who consider Balachander his mentor. Rajinikanth presided over the function as chief guest.

K. Balachander was instrumental in shaping the careers of both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. Both these Tamil veterans worked with Balachander in over 20 films.

Kamal Haasan on Thursday celebrated his 65th birthday with members of his family, in hometown Paramakudi.

On the career front, Kamal Haasan is currently working on Shankar's "Indian 2". The film, a sequel to the 1996 superhit "Indian", which marks the return the actor as the nonagenarian vigilante, Senapathy.

"Indian 2", which hits the screens in 2021, also stars Siddharth, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh and Priya Bhavani Shankar.

The team of "Indian 2" recently completed an action sequence shot on a budget of Rs 40 crore in Bhopal. The team also briefly shot in Gwalior before wrapping up the second schedule.

The next schedule will be in Madhya Pradesh from November third week.

Kamal Haasan also has the Tamil political thriller "Thalaivan Irukkindran", which is rumoured to be a sequel to "Thevar Magan", in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, reports emerged earlier this week that the actor has signed "Kaithi" director Lokesh Kanagaraj for a new project, which will take off next year.

IANS