Rajinikanth's Kaala to release on April 27, new poster out

And... Fans could not help but notice the similarities to another Rajini mass hit from 22 years ago.

(Picture: Twitter/@dhanushkraja)

"The don of dons in back". Simple words in a tweet from Tamil actor and producer Dhanush. He also announced the release date of Rajinikanth's next movie - Kaala. The movie is set to drop on April 27. Dhanush also tweeted a new poster for the movie. Soon after the date was announced, Twitter pretty much lit up.

Kaala will be the Tamil superstar's second outing with Pa Ranjith after last year's Kabaali. Rajini again plays an ageing gangster, but this time in Mumbai. Kabaali showed him in the shoes of a Tamil gangster in Malaysia.

Kaala also features Huma Qureshi, Nana Patekar, Anjali Patil, Sukanya and actor-director Samuthirakani among others. Ranjith-regular Santosh Narayanan will score the music.

The new poster that Dhanush tweeted shows the superstar in a chair, petting a dog - a clear play on his name in the movie and its association of the form of the Hindu god Shiva most associated with complete annihilation, Kaal Bhairav.

Mark the date !! #kaalaa #april27 the don of dons is back #Superstar #thalaivar pic.twitter.com/FMakkwM5ee

— Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) February 10, 2018

Within minutes, the tweet was already on the way to becoming viral. About 20 minutes after it dropped, it was 'liked' over 8000 times and retweeted almost 4000 times.

Hardcore Rajini fans were quick to point out a similarity with another Rajini film in which he plays a gangster in Bombay - the 1995 blockbuster Baasha. The posters of that movie too showed Rajini sitting, with a huge Great Dane filling out the space around him.

Mass enough ??????#kaalaa pic.twitter.com/SE3ZXEHSrA - Vino Dhanush ?? (@VinoDhanush9) February 10, 2018

Mumbai Don Is Back ?? #Kaala pic.twitter.com/bpQR2g5igQ - ? Raam ? (@RamDaaaa) February 10, 2018

Baasha's continued relevance in Tamil popular culture stems from the fact that it was released around murmurs of Rajnikanth's entry into politics. The fans did notice that this time, the superstar has formally announced that he will launch a political party.

Given the reaction on Twitter, this is going to be a highly charged film release. April 27 just can't get here soon enough.