Good cop, bad cop with Rajinikanth

When Dhanush watched Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's comedy-drama 'Nil Battey Sannata', he was particularly impressed by Principal Srivastava, played by Pankaj Tripathi, who had previously caught the actor-producer's attention as the blood-thirsty owner of an abattoir in Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs of Wasseypur'.
So Dhanush, who produced 'Amma Kanakku', the Tamil remake of the Swara Bhaskar-starrer, recommended Pankaj for a role in Pa Ranjith's upcoming Rajinkanth-starrer 'Kaala Karikaalan'. After announcing the film earlier this year, Dhanush sent an associate to Mumbai to get in touch with Pankaj, who was shooting for Tarun Mansukhani's action-thriller 'Drive' back then.

"I was asked if I'd want to listen to an interesting cop role in a Rajinikanth film. I told him there was no need to listen to a part for a film with a legend like Rajini sir and signed the contract immediately," Pankaj reminisces, adding that it is a full-fledged role in which he plays good cop-bad cop to Rajini's gangster-slumlord.
"It's been a dream shooting with Rajini sir in Mumbai. We wrap up around June 24. I'll also be travelling to Chennai to film a few sequences with Rajini sir," he smiles.