When Kabali was announced with Rajinikanth, there was a big buzz in the film industry and among the audience. The Superstar signing a new film is of course important news but in this film directed by Pa Ranjith, he would be playing his age. This is perhaps the most defining moment of 65-year-old Rajinikanth’s career that spans more than four decades.

The actor started his career in 1975 at the age of 25 and has essayed almost every single character possible – the hero, the villain, the old, the young and so on. But even in his 50's and 60's Rajinikanth continued to play the young hero romancing beauties like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Shetty among others. When movies like Kuselan and Lingaa failed, questions were raised as to why the ageing Superstar was continuing to play the young romantic hero in his films. Should he not play roles suited to his age? And should he not work with new directors rather than his favourite yesteryear directors like P Vasu and K S Ravikum