Akshay Kumar to play bad guy with Rajinikanth in 'Robot 2'

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has been roped in to play the antagonist in superstar Rajinikanth's 'Enthiran 2.0', which went on the floors on Wednesday and is slated to hit the screens early next year.

The makers had initially planned to rope in 'The Terminator' star Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the deal did not happen.

The film - a sequel to 'Enthiran' - will be helmed by Shankar.

Akshay announced the project on microblogging site Twitter and wrote: "Ending the year on a high note! Super excited to be a part of 'Robot 2' with the one and only Rajinikanth sir."

He also shared a picture in which he posed with Rajinikanth, the film's director Shankar and music composer A R Rahman.

Rahman too posted a picture on Facebook saying: "'Robot 2' kickstarts..."

Also starring Amy Jackson, who will reportedly be playing a robot, the film is being produced by Lyca Productions.

'Baahubali' fame Srinivas Mohan will take care of the visual effects work in the film, which will hit the screens next year.

The film is the sequel to 2010 superhit film Enthiran in which Rajinikanth was seen as the hero (Dr Vaseegaran) and villain (his Robot named Chitti).