MUMBAI: The shooting of Rajinikanth’s next Hindi film – Rana – has commenced in Chennai. The movie is being produced by Eros International Media and directed by K.S. Ravikumar.

The movie also stars Deepika Padukone, Ileana D’Cruz and Sonu Sood.

The film’s shoot began with a puja by Rajnikanth along with the cast and crew in Chennai to mark the auspicious occasion.

Rana is a live action film wherein Rajinikanth will be seen playing a triple role. The movie will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Director Ravikumar said, "Rana has a strong story, a very interesting ensemble cast of actors coupled with super star Rajinikanth in a triple role and promises to have some stunning visual effects that will surely take Indian cinema to the next level."

Eros International Media MD Sunil Lulla added, "It is indeed a proud moment for us and we are very excited to be a part of this ambitious project with Rajinikanth,  one of the most popular actors of all times. We are expecting this to be a landmark film for all those associated with this project."

The music of Rana is scored by A R Rehman, director of photography is Ratnavelu and editing will be done by Antony.

Rana is scheduled to release in the first half of 2012.