Kochadaiiyaan

This article is about the upcoming Indian film. For the emperor during the 8th century, see Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran.

Kochadaiiyaan
Promotional poster
Directed by	Soundarya R. Ashwin
Written by	K. S. Ravikumar
Produced by	Sunil Lulla
Starring	Rajinikanth R. Sarathkumar Aadhi Deepika Padukone Shobana Rukmini Vijayakumar Jackie Shroff Nassar
Cinematography	Rajiv Menon
Edited by	Anthony
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Production companies	Eros International Media One Global Entertainment
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	12 December 2013 (2013-12-12)
Running time	124 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹125 crore (US$15 million)

Kochadaiiyaan (Translation: King with long, curly mane) is an upcoming Tamil period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth in three roles alongside R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff and Nassar. The film, which is expected to be shot with motion capture in 3D, will have cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack will be composed by A. R. Rahman. The film will be dubbed and simultaneously released in Telugu (as Vikrama Simha), Malayalam and English, and will also be released in Hindi and Japanese. As of 2012, Italian and Spanish versions of the film have also been announced. Shooting for the film was finished by the end of February 2013, and post-production works are currently going on at London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and mostly China.

Cast

• Rajnikanth as Kochadaiiyaan and Rana
• R. Sarathkumar
• Deepika Padukone as Vadhana Devi
• Shobana
• Aadhi
• Rukmini Vijayakumar
• Jackie Shroff
• Nassar

Production

Development

Rajinikanth's next film, after Shankar's Enthiran (2010), was supposed to be Rana, a historical drama film to be directed by K. S. Ravikumar and dually-produced by Soundarya R. Ashwin's Ocher Picture Productions and Eros Entertainment. However, Rajinikanth became ill and was treated for dehydration and exhaustion at a hospital, resulting in postponement of Rana's filming. On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement. The following day, she announced that her father's next film would be titled Kochadaiyaan and that she was "[grateful and] excited to be directing [her] father". A tentatively scheduled release period of August 2012 was also announced. The film was finalised to be a co-production of Eros Entertainment and Media One Global. Soundarya further stated that K. S. Ravikumar had worked with her father and herself on the script of the film. 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. The director clarified that Kochadaiiyaan was not related to the same-titled history series being published by the Tamil magazine Kumudam.

Casting

For the female lead role, Anushka Shetty was initially approached, but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film. It was then rumoured that Asin Thottumkal and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress. Soundarya R. Ashwin approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012, who was not able to give her dates and the team reapproached Balan. Despite reports that Kaif was finalised, Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema. 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. The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam (2007) and Eeram (2009), 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". Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role, with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011. She, however, opted-out a couple months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar, who made her debut in the film Bommalattam (2008), was signed in her place. 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.

Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film. 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. Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film. Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who was last seen in Tamil cinema playing a crucial role in the critically acclaimed Aaranya Kaandam (2011), was also signed up for an antagonistic role. Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him.

Peter Hein was chosen as the film's action choreographer, while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film's background score and soundtrack. Rajiv Menon was recruited as the film's cinematographer. Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan. She handpicked 42 students from 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.

Character looks

On actor Rajinikanth's looks, the director quoted. "First, we (the team) 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.

Filming

"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, in an interview with The Times of India

The film posters claimed filming to utilise performance capturing technology, same as that used in films such as Avatar (2009) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011), making Kochadaiiyaan the first Indian film to involve so. K. S. Ravikumar, story writer of the film, announced that the filming would commence from 15 January 2012. The first schedule of indoor shooting started with Rajinikanth's base actions being filmed as per the motion capturing norms. The film was launched with a formal puja on 19 January 2012 at the Ganesha temple located inside AVM Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai. First-look posters of the film were released on 5 February 2012. The first schedule of the film shooting began on in Chennai on 15 March 2012, post this, the team was off to London along with the lead actor Rajinikanth to continue the first schedule. In course of the schedule for 20 days in London shooting along with Soundarya and Ravikumar, Rajinikanth claimed the film may release on Diwali 2012. After completing the first schedule of the film in London, Rajinikanth returned to Chennai on 2 April 2012 and the next schedule of the film shooting was planned in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Soundarya roped in Saroj Khan, Raju Sundaram, Chinni Prakash and his wife, and Shobi to choreograph the songs. Rajinikanth's hairstyle in the film is said to be inspired from his earlier look in Thalapathi (1991). 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, 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."

The second schedule of the film was shot in Thiruvananthapuram at Chitranjali studio and Vismayas Max studio. The second schedule was completed on 30 April 2012. A sizzling romantic number choreographed by Saroj Khan featuring the leading duo was filmed in early May 2012 as a part of second schedule. 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. 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. Kochadaiiyaan was equipped with Auro 3D sound technology, becoming the third Indian film to do so. As per reports, due to involvement of extensive graphics, four separate teams from Chennai to London were also working on the film. On 20 February 2013 the director announced through Twitter that Kochadaiiyaan was in the process of being finalized. 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. Although reports of November 2012 suggested that lead actress Deepika Padukone would dub her own voice for the Tamil version, it was later announced that she would dub only for the Hindi version as the makers of the film felt that the film's "chaste Tamil" would be a "tad difficult for her". Padukone was paid a salary of ₹3 crore (US$360,000) for shooting only for two days in the film.

In June 2013, Soundarya announced that the film would feature a fight sequence "in the middle of the ocean", where Rajinikanth's character would be fighting dolphins. The dubbing for the film's Telugu version Vikramasimha began on 25 August 2013.

Music

Rajinikanth has rendered his voice for a song in the Kochadaiiyaan soundtrack. The song, composed by A. R. Rahman, is said to be a philosophical theme song called Ethirigal Illai. It was penned by Vairamuthu and recorded on 11 March 2012. This is the second time, that the actor took part in playback singing for a film, earlier he had rendered his voice for the song Adikuthu Kuliru in the 1992 film Mannan. Rajinikanth also sung the theme song in the Hindi version, which was co-sung by A. R. Rahman and penned by Irshad Kamil, recorded at London on 31 March 2012 during the first schedule of the film shooting. The song, which is Rajinikanth's first Hindi number, is composed of Hindi and Urdu lyrics, and is said to be completely different from its original Tamil version. Sony Music Entertainment has acquired the music rights of the film.

On 20 December 2012, lyricist Vairamuthu unveiled the Tamil lyrics of the melancholic song Sendhee Vizhundha Sempor Paarayil through Twitter. The English translation of the song was also part of the same tweet. In an interview with The Hindu, Vairamuthu stated, that the song contains 2,100-year old Tamil usages in pure form with dialects of the Sangam age, planking imagery and epithets in verses. The song, that putforths anguish and longing emotions, was penned in 90 minutes by the lyricist. In June 2013, it was revealed that Hollywood music engineer Geoff Foster was involved in mixing 200 tracks of orchestra for Kochadaiiyaan. In an interview with Thamarai Extra, singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam revealed that he had recorded a duet song "Methuvaaga Thaan" with singer Sadhana Sargam. A single track is scheduled to release in September 2013 whereas the soundtrack of the film will be launched in mid-October 2013.

Marketing

The film will have special screenings in Los Angeles, London and India. Apart from this, the producers struck a deal with Karbonn Mobiles, an Indian telecommunication firm that will involve ₹5 lakh (US$6,000) Kochadaiiyaan merchandise 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. On 21 April 2013, Soundarya revealed a first fully 3D rendered picture, which shows Rajinikanth in two different avatars. It was also announced that a "making-of-the-movie" video would be released, where a song featuring Rajinikanth's voice would be used. Reports of July 2013 suggested that publicity for the film would begin on 15 August 2013.

The first trailer of the film was all set to be screened at 66th annual Cannes Film Festival in mid-May 2013, however it was delayed due to Soundarya's dissatisfaction over the final cut of the trailer. The first teaser trailer was released digitally on 9 September 2013, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi. The teaser received mixed response; while fans of Rajinikanth were satisfied, others criticised it for "poor visual effects". 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. 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.

Release

Initially, the film was set for a November 2012 release in India. In course of time, the release date was advanced to September 2012. 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 clash with other high budget cum 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 of perfection in every aspect of filming, production, post-production and promotion. Later, reports stated that Soundarya Rajinikanth was planning to release the film on 12 December 2012, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday. However, it was postponed to January 2013 due to extensive post-production work. The reports of February 2013 strongly considered the film to release on the eve of Puthandu in April 2013. Though on 3 March 2013, the makers of the film zeroed on 5 July 2013 as the release schedule, later reports of June 2013 suggested that the film would be released on Diwali. However, the producers finalised 12 December 2013 as the release date.

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 the film's Telugu language version. In July 2012, Jaya TV acquired the television broadcast rights of the film for an undisclosed sum.

External links

• Kochadaiiyaan at IMDb
• kochadaiyaan Film Trailer