Rajinikanth follows PM Modi, to star in Bear Grylls' 'Man vs Wild', to be shot in Bandipur

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth will appear on the extremely popular “Man vs Wild” television adventure show hosted by British TV star Bear Grylls. The episode featuring Rajinikanth is being shot at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Karnataka.

Rajinikanth, a Maharashtrian born in Bengaluru and who made Tamil Nadu his home after his stupendous success in the tinsel town, arrived at Mysuru on Monday evening and proceeded to the reserve forest on Tuesday, along with his daughter Soundarya.

The 69-year-old actor will interact with Grylls for the show, which will be telecast on Discovery channel. Last year, the show featured Modi, who shared his experiences in wild and spoke in detail about wildlife conservation in India.

Seventaurrus Entertainment Studio Private Limited has been allowed to shoot from January 27 to 29 in the BTR with a few conditions. The permission for shooting inside the reserve forest was granted after a recce in December last year.

Videos of the actor and the adventure show host Grylls arriving in the Bandipur forest area have gone viral. Even as the videos went viral, environmentalists raised concern over the shooting of a show inside the BTR, as it violated several rules.

A few Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers also took to Twitter to showcase the shooting as an “honour and privilege for forests in Karnataka.”

“Rajinikanth shoots for 'Man Vs Wild' show with Bear Grylls in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. So, get ready to see wildlife in style soon,” Ramesh Pandey, an IFS officer, wrote on Twitter. Dipika Bajpai, an IFS officer working in Karnataka said: “It is an honour and privilege for Karnataka Forests.”

Some of the conditions imposed by the forest department for shooting inside the BTR include ensuring that no undue disturbance is caused to the wildlife and submission of a copy of the shoot, both in hard and soft format, to the Chief Wildlife Warden.

Other conditions, stating that filming can be done only between 6 am to 6 pm, no damage to tree growth or destruction to the tree growth and ban on the use of fire explosives, flashlight, reflectors, sound materials and generators have also been imposed.