Telugu superstar Nagarjuna is set to take on the role of a villain in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s action thriller Coolie. Recently, the actor, along with Anirudh Ravichander and Shruti Haasan, attended a special event organised by Spotify in Mumbai for the Hindi album launch of the film.
During the event, Nagarjuna opened up about his role as a baddie and revealed how Rajinikanth supported him during the shoot.
Nagarjuna on playing villain in Coolie
Explaining why he chose to play the villain, Nagarjuna said, “I was playing a goodie all the time; it was getting a little boring, so I thought, let’s play a baddie. It was liberating, but I made Lokesh work for it – I took seven to eight meetings before he convinced me. I definitely don’t want to tell my grandchildren about this role. It’s bad, too bad.”
He went on to share his experience of working with Rajinikanth, “Yes, working with Rajini Sir was fantastic – something I can truly take back home. The charisma, the aura, what he created on set – it’s just outstanding. He even helped me with my Tamil dialogues, guiding me on how to deliver them. That was very kind of him. Though I have played the most negative role, the experience itself was the most positive.”
About Coolie
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, the action thriller is one of the most awaited films of the year. Produced by Sun Pictures (Kalanithi Maran) with a screenplay co-written by Lokesh and Chandhru Anbazhagan, the film marks Rajinikanth’s 171st lead role, initially teased as Thalaivar 171. It also stars Nagarjuna, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, and Sathyaraj, with a cameo by Aamir Khan. Anirudh Ravichander composes the music, marking his fifth collaboration with Rajinikanth and fourth with Lokesh. Coolie is scheduled for release on 14 August and will clash at the box office with Ayan Mukerji’s War 2, part of YRF’s spy universe, starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR.