Kochadaiiyaan (English: The king with a long, curly mane[5]) is an upcoming 2014 Indian Tamil motion capture 3D computer-animated period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth enacting and voicing three lead roles, whilst R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff, and Nassar enact and voice supporting characters. The film has cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman.
Shooting for the film was completed by the end of February 2013 while post-production work took place in the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, and China.[3][6][7] The film is set to release worldwide on 9 May 2014 simultaneously in other languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Japanese, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, and English.[2][8]
Cast
Rajinikanth as Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena[9]
R. Sarathkumar as Sengodagan
Deepika Padukone as Princess Vadhana[10]
Shobana as Yaahavi
Aadhi as Veera Mahendra
Jackie Shroff as Raja Mahendra
Nassar as Rishikodagan
Rukmini Vijayakumar as Yamuna
Late actor Nagesh's likeness was also used in the film, by means of a 3D model, created using high-resolution images of him. Actors who sound like him were hired to voice his character while those who had a similar appearance to his, performed the character's performance capture scenes.[3]
Production
Development
"Animation is a word, a process. In India, people think animation is cartoon. Avatar was animation, but is not a cartoon. Tintin is completely cartoonistic. I am creating Rajinikanth, where he has actually performed, it's captured on a camera and then put into a 3D version. Avatar took seven years and so much budget and a James Cameron. There was always the insecurity of the unknown, but we have taken a road never taken in India and broken rules and have completed the film in just a year and a half."
— Soundarya on Kochadaiiyaan, in an interview with The Times of India[11]
After the release of Enthiran (2010), Rajinikanth approached K. S. Ravikumar to help complete an animation feature that Soundarya Rajinikanth had begun in 2007. The project titled Sultan: The Warrior had run into problems with its production and Rajinikanth hoped that they could salvage the project by adding a historical back plot which would make the film partially animation and partially live action. K. S. Ravikumar then developed a story for fifteen days with his team of assistants and after being impressed by the script, Rajinikanth felt that Ravikumar's story should be an entirely separate film. Thus the team launched a venture titled Rana, to be dually-produced by Soundarya's Ocher Picture Productions and Eros Entertainment.[12] However, Rajinikanth became ill and was treated for dehydration and exhaustion at a hospital, resulting in postponement of Rana's filming.[13] On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement.[14] Following the delay, the team considered making Rana as an animation film but Rajinikanth was insistent that the film would be a live action film and prevented Ravikumar potentially discussing the script with Telugu actor Chiranjeevi. Film producer Murali Manohar then suggested that an animation film could potentially be a sequel to Rana and thus the team began work on Kochadaiiyaan. A tentatively scheduled release period of August 2012 was also announced.[15] The film was finalised to be a co-production of Eros Entertainment and Media One Global.[16] Soundarya further stated that Ravikumar had worked with her father and herself on the script of the film.[17] With regards to the film's title, Ravikumar claimed that it drew reference to an alternate name of Hindu deity Shiva, while also being partly inspired by the name of the Pandya Dynasty king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran, and that the plot would be a fictional account with small references to Indian history.[18] The director clarified that Kochadaiiyaan was not related to the same-titled history series being published by the Tamil magazine Kumudam.[19] When rumors circulated that the temporarily shelved feature Rana was being remade as Kochadaiiyaan, Ravikumar denied theses rumors saying, "Kochadaiyaan has nothing to do with Ranadheeran or Rana." Latha Rajinikanth also clarified that the film would serve as a prequel to Rana.[20] In October 2013, the name of the film was changed from Kochadaiyaan to Kochadaiiyaan on Rajinikanth's request citing numerological reasons.[21]
Casting
For the female lead role, Anushka Shetty was initially approached,[22] but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film.[23] It was then rumoured that Asin Thottumkal and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress.[24] Soundarya approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012,[25] who was not able to clear her schedule for the film and the team reapproached Balan.[26] Despite reports that Kaif was finalised,[27] Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.[28] Padukone was paid a salary of ₹3 crore (US$500,000) for shooting only for two days in the film.[29] According to Soundarya, she was "quite relieved to not be wearing make-up for a film for the first time in her career."[30] Although reports of November 2012 suggested that lead actress Deepika Padukone would dub her own voice for the Tamil version,[31] it was later announced that she would dub only for the Hindi version[32] as the dialogues required authentic Tamil pronunciations.[33] Hence, Savitha Reddy dubbed the voice for Padukone in the Tamil version.[34] In January 2014, it was revealed that dubbing artiste Mona Ghosh Shetty had dubbed Padukone's voice for the Hindi version,[35] because the actress was unavailable during the dubbing schedules.[33] Shetty had earlier dubbed for Padukone's debut in Om Shanti Om (2007).
The film began to increase its casting profile after Malayalam actor Prithviraj was rumoured to have been signed to play an important role in the film.[36] The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam and Eeram, in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was "a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood".[37] Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role,[38] with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011.[39] She, however, opted-out a couple of months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar was signed in her place.[40] R. Sarathkumar accepted Soundarya's offer for an important role in the film while veteran actor Nassar was recruited in the film as well for a supporting role.[27][41]
Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film.[42] Soundarya confirmed that the former was added to the cast saying that she was the "only choice for the role" as the character was written keeping her in mind.[43][44] Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film.[45] Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was also approached for an antagonistic role.[46] Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him.[47] Reports claimed that the film would feature late actors like Nagesh, P. S. Veerappa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, and R. S. Manohar recreated through sophisticated animation techniques,[48] although it was later revealed that only Nagesh was recreated for the film. According to Soundarya, "The biggest triumph for Kochadaiiyaan was bringing back late comedy actor Nagesh to the screen."[3]
Peter Hein was chosen as the film's action choreographer,[49] while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film's background score and soundtrack.[50][51] Rajiv Menon was recruited as the film's cinematographer,[52] while Resul Pookutty was recruited as the sound engineer.[53] Soundarya chose Saroj Khan, Raju Sundaram, Chinni Prakash and his wife, and Shobi to choreograph the songs.[54] Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan.[55] She chose 42 students from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai for the task, besides 50 experienced persons from the Jacob College of Fine Arts. 60 concept artistes were already reportedly working for the film.[56]
Design[edit]
National Award winning fashion designer Neeta Lulla worked on the looks of each character, including the lead role portrayed by Rajinikanth. According to Lulla, the project required a lot of research. Around 150 costumes per character were designed on paper and out of those, 25 costumes were selected and detailed. She also created a range of 20 to 30 looks especially for Rajinikanth's suit of armour as well as the supporting cast of Kochadaiiyaan. Lulla, along with the team working on the costumes, created the looks of all characters on sketch. They had worked for about eight months on the various characterisations of Rajinikanth and the supporting cast. According to her, "It was a different kind of design experience altogether"[57]
On Rajinikanth's looks, Soundarya quoted: "First, we scanned his face and made a 3D model to get the exact precision of his features, such as the scar on his nose. And then we corrected the 3D model by tightening his skin to make him look 25 years younger. They used that technology in the film Tron." The youthfulness of the look was compared to the looks that Rajinikanth carried in his film Muthu.[3] Soundarya also claimed that Rajinikanth's hairstyle in the film was inspired by his appearance in his earlier film, Thalapathi.[58]
Filming[edit]
The film posters showed that the film would utilise performance capturing technology, which was used in films such as Avatar and The Adventures of Tintin. During production, Kochadaiiyaan was the first Indian film to utilise the technology. However, Maattraan, another Tamil feature, which also made use of the technology, was released before Kochadaiiyaan, making it the second Indian film to utilise the technology.[59][60][61] K. S. Ravikumar, story writer of the film, announced that the filming would commence from 15 January 2012.[62] The first schedule of indoor shooting started with Rajinikanth's base actions being filmed as per the motion capturing norms.[23]
The film was launched with a formal puja on 19 January 2012 at the Ganesha temple located inside AVM Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai.[63] The first phase of production began in Chennai on 15 March 2012. It was then moved to London on 17 March 2012, where motion capture filming was done at Pinewood Studios.[61][64] Production in London lasted for 15 days, during which, Rajinikanth announced that the film might be released for Diwali 2012.[61] After completing the first phase of production in London, the crew returned to Chennai on 2 April 2012. The next schedule of the film shooting was planned at various locations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.[65]
The second phase of production began at the Chitranjali Studio in Thiruvananthapuram.[66] Although initial reports claimed that production had moved to Mohanlal's Vismayas Max studio,[67] it was later reported that shooting never took place at that studio. It instead happened at Accel Animation Studios, where the crew shot scenes which they were unable to complete during their schedule in London.[68] The second phase was completed on 30 April 2012, after which a romantic song choreographed by Saroj Khan was filmed in early May 2012.[69][70] It was said that the entire film shooting would be completed in the second schedule itself and the post-production work would begin. However, the team was off with the lead actor to Hong Kong for the third schedule of the film on 12 May 2012 where some crucial scenes and combat scenes featuring the lead actor and the antagonist were shot at the State of the Arts Gallery studio.[71][72][73] Since the film was shot using performance capture technology, 48 cameras were used to shoot each and every scene. The 48 cameras captured performance of artistes' at 48 angles.[74] Kochadaiiyaan was equipped with Auro 3D sound technology.[75] As per reports, due to involvement of extensive graphics, four separate teams, including teams from Chennai and London were also working on the film.[76] On February 20, 2013 the director announced through Twitter that Kochadaiiyaan was in the process of being finalized.[77] On 28 February 2013 the final edited version of the film was viewed by the director, writer and the lead actor along with handful crew members.[78]
In June 2013, Soundarya revealed that the film would feature a fight sequence "in the middle of the ocean", where Rajinikanth's character would be fighting dolphins.[79] The dubbing for the film's Telugu version Vikramasimha began on 25 August 2013.[80][81] In an interview in February 2014, Soundarya revealed that Rajinikanth felt very awkward while shooting romantic shots with Padukone.[82]
Music
Original soundtrack
Main article: Kochadaiiyaan (soundtrack)
The soundtrack and background score of the film was composed by A. R. Rahman, who was initially hesitant to work on the project but started after he felt the "positive energy and the commitment".[83] The rights to the soundtrack album were sold to Sony Music Entertainment in August 2012.[84] The track "Engae Pogudho Vaanam" was released on 7 October 2013 as a single, along with its Telugu version "Choodham Aakasam Antham" to positive response.[85] On 9 March 2014, the original version as well as the Telugu version of the album were released at Sathyam Cinemas in Royapettah, Chennai.[86][87] The album gained the top position on the iTunes charts in India within hours of its release. Meanwhile, "Kochadaiiyaan" became a top trending topic on Twitter in India, making it a first for a Tamil film.[88]
Sound design
Resul Pookutty is the sound designer for the film. He worked over two and a half year on the sound design of the film. Three teams of sound editors were working in Los Angeles, Mumbai and Chennai under him. The final phase of re-recording was done in Chennai at A. R. Rahman's studio during end-March 2014. In an interview with The Hindu he quoted, "For the war sequence, we got 150 people scream like how they would in a war and recorded the sound. I went to fortresses and collected samples of how sound resonates. Based on the impulse response data, we recreated the acoustics of a durbar." Pookutty started working from the scratch instead of utilising available sound samples. He added that when his team started working on the foley (ambient sounds) he told the film director to provide him with the exact costumes utilised whilst filming. However, realizing that the filming was done using performance capture technology, the entire set of costumes were designed to provide requisite foley. He also payed attention to nuances extensively where he added, "For instance, the image you see on screen is a composite of several layers of images. The clothes, the movement, the swords and so on were created separately and put together. My team also had to add sound, layer by layer."[89]
Marketing[edit]
The first trailer of the film was all set to be screened at 66th annual Cannes Film Festival in mid-May 2013,[90] however it was delayed due to Soundarya's dissatisfaction over the final cut of the trailer.[91] The first teaser trailer was released digitally on 9 September 2013, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi[92] to mixed response; while fans of Rajinikanth were satisfied, others criticised it for its "poor visual effects".[93] It was also noted for its similarities to the teaser trailer of Soundarya's shelved animation venture Sultan the Warrior, that was also supposed to feature Rajinikanth.[94][95] Nevertheless, it was viewed over 1 million times on a single day, establishing it as one of the most anticipated film teasers in the history of Tamil cinema.[96] Soundarya also announced that a second trailer would be released, which would feature Padukone prominently,[97] and unlike the first trailer, it would have sound and dialogues.[98] The trailer was released in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi on 9 March 2014, the same day of the audio launch.[99]
The film will have special screenings in Los Angeles, London and India. In 2012, the producers struck a deal with Karbonn Mobiles, an Indian telecommunication firm that will involve Kochadaiiyaan merchandise worth ₹5 lakh (US$8,400) with screen savers and images from the film along with the trailer, behind the scenes shots, signature tune of the film and lead actor's signature on back cover of phones.[100] However, delays in the film caused the clause to be modified. Sudhir Hasija, chairman of Karbonn, said, "We will roll out a million handsets by February-end or first week of March 2014 with a pre-loaded app for the movie. All the handsets will come with the signature of Rajinikanth. This is the first time any mobile handset maker is launching products with an augmented reality app." The promotional tactic is an extension of Eros' alliance with Karbonn, wherein the latter will make a million special-edition phones. Using augmented reality, producers of Eros International and Mediaone Global Entertainment have developed interactive Kochadaiiyaan hoardings in association with Karbonn Mobiles. Eros has deployed 500 interactive hoardings across India. People will have to stand in front of the hoarding and send an SMS to activate the hoarding. Karbonn stated that an estimate of 400 hoardings would be put up across the country, majority in southern states of India.[101] Hoardings and banners of the film will be displayed at 3,650 Bharat Petroleum stations across South India.[102]
On 21 April 2013, Soundarya revealed a first fully 3D rendered picture, which shows Rajinikanth in two different avatars.[103] It was also announced that a "making-of-the-movie" video would be released, where a song featuring Rajinikanth's voice would be used.[104][105] It was shown nearly a year later on 9 March 2014 to the audience of the music launch event.[106] The franchise was expanded further as Hungama Digital Media Entertainment and Gameshastra announced the launch of two mobile games based on the film available for download on mobile platforms, called Kochadaiiyaan: Kingdom Run and Kochadaiiyan: Reign of Arrows.[107]
iPlay's director Rave Shankar and his team had approached the film's producers to screen the theatrical trailer in 5-D format at Phoenix Market City Mall in Velachery, Chennai.[108] The producers provided the 3-D print of the trailer at no cost. Shankar and his team worked for about 10 days to get the synchronization of the chair movements, sprayings and light effects for the trailer.[108] The experience for viewers was defined such that the chairs quake and rumble as the scenes of war appear and wet sprays are sprinkled on the audience when the character Kochadaiiyaan rides on a dolphin in the trailer.[108]
Release[edit]
Initially, the film was set for a November 2012 release in India. In course of time, the release date was advanced to September 2012.[109] In the last week of June 2012 the release date was reported to be unspecified as the makers were disagreeing to compromise on the quality of the multilingual film. Other reports claimed that the release date was pushed to avoid competition from other high budget multi-starrer Bollywood films releasing during the festive time of November 2012. The producer of the film confirmed the news of setting no official release date as he opined the need for perfection in every aspect of filming, production, post-production and promotion.[110][111][112] Later, reports stated that Soundarya Rajinikanth was planning to release the film on 12 December 2012, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday.[113] However, it was postponed to January 2013 due to extensive post-production work.[114] The reports of February 2013 strongly considered the film to release on the eve of Puthandu in April 2013.[4][76] Though on 3 March 2013, the makers of the film zeroed on 5 July 2013 as the release schedule,[6][115] later reports suggested that the film would be released on Diwali in November 2013.[116][117] Though the producers considered releasing the film on 12 December 2013,[118] it was later postponed to 10 January 2014.[119] Citing further delays, it was confirmed by the team that Kochadaiiyaan would be released on 11 April 2014,[8] but was again postponed to have a release date of 9 May 2014.[120]
In March 2013, the distribution rights for the film in the United States were sold to ATMUS Entertainment while Hyderabad-based Lakshmy Ganpathy Films purchased the distribution rights of Vikramasimha, the film's Telugu version.[121] In July 2012, Jaya TV purchased the satellite rights of the film for an undisclosed sum.[122]
Sequel
Main article: Rana (film)
Rana, another historical film with Rajinikanth in the lead role, was originally in production before Kochadaiiyaan. Rajinikath said, "I like stories that are about kings and queens and used to read stories that began with 'Once Upon A Time…'; I haven't done a film based on folklore and that's why I wanted to do Rana."[123] It went into production and principal photography began on 29 April 2011.[124] However, while filming, Rajinikanth became ill and production on Rana was temporarily halted.[13] His treatment lasted till June 2011, which made all attempts at restarting production unsuccessful.[125]
After his recovery, Rajinikanth felt that his body would not be able to facilitate the stress that filming required. However, when the producers suggested him that it was possible to make the film without causing harm to Rajinikanth, he agreed to star in the film.[9] The newly established film, titled Kochadaiiyaan, had a different story and was later revealed by Soundarya, the director of the film, to be a prequel to Rana.[20] Meanwhile, Rana was believed to be shelved until Ravikumar stated that he would continue filming at a later date.[126]
In April 2014, production on Rana resumed following the completion of Kochadaiiyaan.[127]
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