Rajnikanth's Rana still on

South Indian matinee idol Rajnikanth's recent hospitalisation has triggered rumours that his forthcoming project Rana has been shelved, but the film's director and Rajinikanth's co-star have rubbished the reports. "Rana has not been shelved, it has just been postponed. It's a very big film and I am very excited about sharing screen space with such a legend. It's a once-in-a-life time opportunity," said Sonu Sood, who plays a villain in the film. He spoke to tabloid! before heading to Dubai to shoot for a Telugu feature. Rana director K S Ravikumar is equally quick to dismiss such "disturbing" reports. "It's natural for people to fall ill and as our leading star is now not so well, we feel unpleasant about these rumours confirming the film being dropped. Rana is Superstar Rajini Sir's dream project and his brain-child and hence he is very much keen on undertaking it and completing it successfully," said Ravikumar in a statement. The Sivaji star, 61, was admitted to a hospital in Chennai for recurrent respiratory infection and gastro-intestinal problems on May 13 and has now been moved to the intensive care unit (ICU) to improve his breathing patterns. "His ill health might have caused a minor glitch initially in our shooting plans but Rajini sir is all positive about recovering and getting back into action." Touted as a tri-lingual film to be made in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, Rana is believed to be India's answer to 300 and has Deepika Padukone as its leading lady. "Moreover we have Deepika Padukone's dates only from post July. We are hopeful of releasing Rana the following year," said Ravikumar. Meanwhile, Rajnikanth's son-in-law took to twitter urging fans not to panic. He even posted a picture of Rajnikanth with his daughter Aishwarya to allay fears about the thespian's deteriorating health. "I request fans to remain at peace. Its 4 millions of worried hearts s dat im postin it. God bless," he tweeted. Rajnikanth has acted in more than 175 films since his debut in 1975.