The making of Endhiran

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter are already abuzz with Endhiran gossip. It’s whispered that the costliest Indian film ever made so far—the budget is Rs 150 crore.

That apart,there’s plenty to talk about Endhiran,not least its roller-coaster ride up to the release. In fact,the film was almost shelved till Sun Pictures (a division of Sun TV) stepped in to salvage the project. Endhiran,originally conceived by acclaimed Tamil science fiction writer Sujatha,has had a bumpy ride before Sun Pictures gave it a new lease.

Shankar,the most commercially successful director in the south,first approached Shah Rukh Khan to act and produce the movie under his own production house Red Chillies Entertainment with Robot as the title for a pan-India release,but Khan backed out,reportedly over creative differences with the director. Shanker then teamed up with production house Ayangaran-Eros and approached Kamal Haasan before zeroing in on southern superstar Rajinikanth as hero and co-stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Danny Denzongpa. Unfortunately,production came to a halt after Ayangaran-Eros could not cough up more than Rs 30 crore in two song shoots in Goa and exotic Peru.

Unable to meet the working capital cost,the production house abandoned the project midway in 2008. At about the same time,things weren’t going too well in the Tamil film industry,with Pyramid Saimira pulling out of Kamal’s magnum opus Marmayogi. The odds seemed stacked against Endhiran till Shankar and his crew,along with lead actor Rajinikanth,met the CEO of Sun group,Kalanidhi Maran. Maran gave his nod after diligently studying how the Rajini-Shankar duo’s earlier release Shivaji performed at the box office in 2007. Industry sources say Maran and his team are fully aware of the roaring theatrical runs of Rajini releases in the nook and cranny of south India as also overseas,and hence agreed to step in.

Sources add that the key determining factor in Sun Pictures jumping on board could be the record Rs 80-crore collection of Shivaji,which did well in five different languages. “I repose great faith in Rajinikanth in making this movie an unprecedented success,” Maran told the audience at the audio release function held in Malaysia. Never known for participating in promotion shows of his production house releases,he showed up on stage at the Malaysian extravaganza,to everyone’s surprise.

The Endhiran team has kept the storyline and other aspects of the film under wraps. Yet,they let slip that the film has visual effects specialists,Eddy Wong and Franki Chan,working with them as also the expertise of Stan Winston known for Hollywood blockbusters like Avatar,Terminator and Predator. “A science fiction movie with 1,500 special effect shots—I hope Endhiran has a 200-day stint in the theatres of Malaysia,” Shankar said at the audio launch.

The storyline,which has been kept a well-guarded secret,sources say,is the tug-of-war between villain Danny and hero Rajini in wresting control of the robot designed by the latter to do good to society. “With all the necessary ingredients for success,one has to keep fingers crossed till the release date,” said Abhirami Ramanathan of Abhirami cinemas.

“A sci-fi venture with a Rs 150-crore budget itself is tantamount to turning a new page in the history of Indian cinema. I won’t call it a Tamil or a Hindi film. It is targeted at the world audience and I appeal for its pride of place in the world movie horizon,” he said. Endhiran’s Hindi version will be called Robot,with SRK generous enough to allow Shankar to use the title ‘Robot’ in Hindi,which was solely registered with Red Chillies Entertainment. Shankar said it was a ‘sweet gesture’ by SRK.

Terming Endhiran as an attempt to produce world-class movies in India,Suresh Vaidyanathan of Anand Pictures and president,South Indian Film Exporters’ Association,said the movie is a big eye-opener in terms of advance graphics and animation content. “The success of Endhiran could usher in world opportunities in more than one ways to the Indian film industry. Though much of the animation works have been outsourced to Hollywood studios,future films could be produced locally with lower costs. Traditionally,for overseas revenues,40 per cent comes from Malaysia and the remaining 60 per cent from Australia,Europe and the US. This movie should also trace the same trajectory,” he hopes.