Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar to shoot football sequence at JLN stadium

The stage is set - at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here - for the 'Thalaiva' of southern cinema Rajnikanth and Bollywood's 'Khiladi' Akshay Kumar to shoot a football sequence for the upcoming Tamil movie "2.0" and the theme is Chennai versus Mumbai at IFL (Indian Football League).

Directed by Shankar, the film is a sequel to the blockbuster "Enthiran".

With a section of the stadium adorned with inflated balloons with imprint of the IFL logo and inflated football tied to ribbons all round the stadium, the part of the area seemed to be ready for a gripping football match. Some corners of the stadium's area had posters that read "Chennai versus Mumbai" match hanging on the edges of the seating arrangements.

The whole set-up of the shoot of the film was kept very confidential and it was obvious from the fact that when some of the enthusiastic fans who entered the venue to take some photographs were stopped with "Please don't. It is a secret and we want to keep it that way. Preparation for the shoot are going on."

In fact, there was a practice match going on in the stadium, though it was not clear that it was a part of the sequence or not. The shooting went underway here on Thursday, and will continue for the next 40 days.

Fans had come in large numbers to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars but were in for a disappointment as the actors didn't come for the scene. Some guards and crew members told IANS that both Akshay and Rajnikanth will be coming to shoot on Monday.

The director was seen engrossed in a discussion about shooting plans, while assistant directors and other crew members were busy checking out the location.

Many people thronged at the gates of the stadium with a hope to catch a glimpse of their stars.

A guard told IANS: " Akshay and Rajnikanth are not here. The people are waiting for them since morning. They might come tomorrow."

A large number of junior artists had also come to shoot for the sequence. When IANS tried to get into the depth of it, it was revealed that they shot for the sequence of cheering with no script or dialogue perhaps spectators of the match in the film.

One of the junior artist who did spoke on the condition of anonymity told IANS: "I had shot with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for 'Sarbjit' and now this movie. Many of us are waiting for the counting to be done as the shot is over".

He also claimed that megastar Amitabh Bachchan along with his son Abhishek will add more star power to the shoot and become part of the film for a scene or two.