Updated On: 13 August, 2025 04:20 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Telugu actor Nagarjuna will play Rajinikanth's villain in director Lokesh Kanagaraj's Coolie. In a recent interview, he recalled how the director narrated him the script 7=8 times before he came on board. He also calls the character too bad

Nagarjuna and Lokesh Kanagaraj
Sun Pictures’ Rajinikanth–Lokesh Kanagaraj mega pan-India action spectacle Coolie: The Powerhouse, is all set for a thunderous global release tomorrow, worldwide on August 14, 2025. While the film is garnering buzz for its massive pan-India starcast, the one thing that came out of the surprise is the addition of Nagarjuna, essaying the villain on-screen against Rajinikanth. However, the actor was not easily convinced to come on-board for the film.
In one of the interviews, Nagarjuna said, when director Lokesh Kanagaraj first approached him, he came with humility and options, and asked, 'Do you mind playing an antagonist? If you don’t want to play one, we’ll just have a cup of tea, talk things over, and leave—no problem.”
Intrigued, Nagarjuna asked him to go ahead with the narration, and halfway through the script, Nagarjuna was completely hooked. The gripping storyline, the layered character, and the larger-than-life cinematic canvas Lokesh envisioned left him wanting more.