"I worked very hard for this film. Working hard does not mean the action scenes of a train fight or climax fight. It is about doing duets with these two girls (Sonakshi and South Indian actress Anushka). I know Sonakshi since her childhood. She grew up at the same time like Aishwarya and Soundarya (his daughters) did.
"I was sweating when I had to do duets with her. I did not feel so tensed even while doing the first take in my first film. If God is to punish an artiste, it is by letting him do a duet after the age of 60," he said, evoking peels of laughter at a curtain-raiser event for 'Lingaa' held here last evening.
Rajinikanth said he acted in 'Lingaa' after a gap of about four-and-half years, as 'Kochadaiyan' (released earlier this year), an animation film, belonged to a different genre.
The storyline of 'Lingaa' deals with the construction of a mega dam and is set in the pre-independence era.
"It is my luck that I have done such a film in my career," he said.
Noting that the film wrapped up in just six months though it dealt with a big storyline, busy stars and technicians like A R Rahman, Sonakshi Sinha, Anushka and involved thousands of artistes, he praised the film's director K S Ravikumar, producer Rockline Venkatesh and the technicians for completing the movie in a short time.