Superstar Rajinikanth's illness has thrown the schedule of Rana out of gear, but it looks as if the production plans will still proceed as per the availability of Deepika Padukone's dates.The reason being that the southern superstar and director K S Ravikumar were so keen to sign the actress, that they assured her that the shooting of the movie would be planned keeping her dates in mind.
It was also agreed that busy Deepika would allot merely eight to 10 days a month for the movie.
"Never mind if the production time extended by a couple of months, to accommodate her," says a friend of the actress, adding that the superstar and director had flown to Bhopal (where she was shooting for Aarakshan) to finalise her dates for Rana.
Ravikumar maintains that Deepika will be the leading lady in Rana, even though she might have allotted the dates (now cancelled) to another filmmaker.
Currently, she's shooting with Saif Ali Khan for Homi Adajania's Cocktail and also has Abbas-Mustan's Race 2 in her kitty.
"The first and only name we had in mind was Deepika. We had a good experience of working with her in the first schedule in Chennai," the filmmaker stated.
However, the next schedule will be planned only after doctors assure that Rajinikanth is fit to shoot. "In fact, Rajini sir is ready to do the easier scenes now. But we don't want to stress him," says the director.
He also revealed Rajnikanth will be doing his own action sequences in the movie.
"Rajini sir is very particular about delivering what his fans expect from him. Of course, we'll take all the necessary precautions and care," concluded Ravikumar.