Is Rajinikanth delaying Atlee-Salman Khan project? Here’s what we know

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan enjoys a massive fan base across the nation. While he has delivered some of the biggest films with top directors, Salman has recently been making headlines for his potential collaboration with Jawan director Atlee. However, in the latest update, the film has been put on the backburner due to superstar Rajinikanth’s date conflict.

DH had earlier reported that Atlee is in talks with Salman Khan for a mega-budget, two-hero film, with Sun Pictures as the producer. The film is said to be a reincarnation-based period drama, similar in scale to Game of Thrones. However, the mega project has now been put on hold, leading to speculation.

According to an independent industry source, “A6 with Salman Khan was always planned as a two-hero project and the intent was to rope in two top names from the North and South to justify the mammoth budget of Rs 650 crore. While Salman Khan agreed the film, Atlee and Sun Pictures were confident to rope in either of Kamal Haasan or Rajinikanth for the film. The conversations with both the legendary actors continued for over six months, but things didn’t fall in place for multiple reasons.”

The source further added, “While Kamal Haasan wasn’t too sure on playing the role of Salman’s father in the film, Rajinikanth is committed to shoot for Coolie and Jailer 2 until the start of 2026. He is on the verge of green lighting another project post Jailer 2, which means his dates are blocked till 2026. After both the conversations fell through, Atlee and Sun Pictures were looking for options all across but couldn’t find an ideal replacement for Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan. They wanted to cast someone who can bring in big revenue from digital and satellite in the local language, but the options of senior superstars with that market value was limited.”

The makers even made an attempt to go international. “Conversations were initiated with Slyvestor Stallone to play the parallel lead, but the financials didn’t fall into place. The team is still exploring options of casting other international names and the process will take longer than usual due to complexities of contracts and other barriers. After all the attempts, Atlee, Salman and Sun Pictures have decided to team up in the near future, as some films are designed in a way to work out only as a collaboration between the two industries - either North and South or India and Hollywood - and ambitious things often take time to materialise,” the source concludes. 

Moreover, it will be exciting to see who will collaborate with Salman Khan on Atlee's film and how these giants in the entertainment industry will create a cinematic spectacle.