Rajinikanth's cop drama directed by AR Murugadoss titled Darbar

Superstar Rajinikanth's next film, directed by AR Murugadoss, has been titled Darbar, and the first look of the film is out.

Lyca Productions, which is bankrolling the film, released the poster on Twitter that shows Rajinikanth surrounded by properties related to the police department, there by confirming that the film will indeed be a cop thriller, as previously speculated.

The placement of the Gateway of India, at the top of the poster, is a hint that the film will likely be set in Mumbai.

There's also an IPS tag, an indication of Rajinikanth's cop credentials. A quote on the poster reads, 'You decide if you want me to be good, bad or worse', and is likely a reference to the actor playing a cop with grey shades.

Rajinikanth is said to have allocated 90 days for this film, which is set to go on the floors in Mumbai this week. It is to be noted that Superstar's Kaala was primarily shot in Mumbai, and the Sarkar director has also used this city as the backdrop for some of his Bollywood films, and also for his Vijay-starrer, Thuppaakki.

It was earlier reported that director-turned-actor SJ Suryah would be playing the villain in this film, and that Nivetha Thomas, who was last seen in Tamil cinema, as Kamal Haasan's daughter in Papanasam, has been signed to play Rajinikanth's daughter. However, a spokesperson of Rajinikanth rubbished these reports on Monday. An announcement was made on social media that only Nayanthara has been roped in so far. 

Santosh Sivan helms the camera for a Rajinikanth film for the first time since Mani Ratnam's Thalapathy, and Anirudh Ravichander is in charge of the music of this film, that is scheduled to hit the theatres for Pongal, next year.