Bengaluru, Feb 19 Discovery channel's Bear Grylls on Wednesday shared the first look of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth's debut on the small screen in his programme 'Into the Wild with Bear Grylls', after 43 years in cinema. "Preparing for @Rajinikanth 's blockbuster TV debut with an 'Into The Wild with Bear Grylls motion poster! I have worked with many stars around the world, but this one for me was special. Love India. #ThalaivaOnDiscovery," tweeted Grylls. Rajinikanth, 69, and Grylls are shown in a close-up with an adventure theme of fire and flying debris in the background. In the 15-second motion poster, Rajinikanth is seen with Grylls resting on the bonnet of an off-road vehicle in the forest.
In January, Rajinikanth visited Karnataka's Bandipur Tiger Reserve to shoot for the Discovery channel's new programme. Discovery channel took permission from the Karnataka forest department to shoot in the Bandipur tiger reserve. Bandipur Tiger Reserve, an 874 sq km national park, was formed by integrating most of the forest areas of erstwhile Venugopala Wildlife Park established in 1941, and later enlarged to its current state in Chamarajanagar district, about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru. The tiger reserve lists 28 species of mammals to be thriving in the forest, including royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, common leopard, bonnet macaque, Indian pipistrelle and barking deer, among others. In August 2019, Grylls had hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the show, which was shot at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand in February last year.
In 'Man vs Wild', former British serviceman Grylls showcased survival strategies in extreme challenging conditions in the most remote locations around the world. Other international icons who featured in the highly popular show include US President Donald Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Titanic star Kate Winslet, Tennis virtuoso Roger Federer and Hollywood great Julia Roberts and others. Rajnikanth, 69, also used the Discovery platform to appeal for water conservation. British adventurer Grylls hosts a handful of shows on the Discovery channel.
(Sharon Thambala can be contacted at thambalasharon@gmail.com)
( With inputs from IANS )