As Indian masses have been moving from typical masala movies to the ones with a story, plot and sensible action sequences, science-fiction as a genre has come to be accepted widely and gradually. It still depends on several factors. While the Shahrukh Khan-starrer Ra.One did not manage to charm the audience, Rajnikanth’s Robot was a superhit.
Ever since the first look of S. Shankar’s 2.0 starring Rajnikanth and Akshay Kumar was released in November 2016, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the film. But the talk of the town has been Akshay Kumar’s dreadful and terrific look. While it was confirmed that Akshay Kumar will be playing an evil scientist Dr. Richard as the antagonist in the film and Rajnikanth will reprise his roles as Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, there are no details on the story or the plot. The star cast of the film also includes Amy Jackson (I, Ekk Deewana Tha, Freaky Ali), Adil Hussain (English Vinglish, Parched, Force 2) and Sudhanshu Pandey (Murder 2, Singh Is Kinng).
It was also revealed that Akshay Kumar was not the first choice. National and international stars like Kamal Haasan, Aamir Khan, Vikram, Hrithik Roshan, Neil Nitin Mukesh and even Arnold Schwarzenegger were approached for the role. Things didn’t work out somehow with any of them and Akshay gave a nod without any wait. The film’s music is being composed by A.R. Rahman.
The film will apparently be VFX heavy with a lot of animation shots too. National Film Award-winning VFX artist V Srinivas Mohan (Baahubali: The Beginning, I, Shivaji, Enthiran) will serve as the VFX supervisor with a team that includes the likes of John Huges and Walt who have done VFX for films like Life of Pi, 300 and Percy Jackson. Kenny Bates, who has worked on action sequences for films like Pearl Harbor, Transformers and Die Hard is also a part of the project.
Few days ago, two movie stills were leaked which showcased Rajnikanth as Chitti trying to life a truck while Amy is seen in a robot-like suit sitting in the driver’s seat. The images are unclear and seem unrendered but they definitely quip our interest as to what kind of VFX and costume work can be observed in the movie.
Costume designer Ror Rodriguez, who has done some amazing work for the TV series Supergirl and Daredevil, has been brought on board for designing outfits for Rajnikanth and Amy Jackson. Sean Foot (Avatar, District 9) has been roped in as the make-up artist. With some of the best artists from around the world, there are few doubts that 2.0 will be a mass hit. Also, it the most anticipated film of 2017 after Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
2.0 is being made on a budget of 450 crore, surpassing the 250 crore budget of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, to become the most expensive Indian film ever made. Shankar, who has previously directed Shivaji: The Boss, I and the first part Enthiran/Robot, also stated that since the genre of 2.0 is science fiction, it can always have its sequels in future.
Film editor Anthony said that it was 10 times more challenging to work on 2.0 than Enthiran. This massive film which is planned to be released across 7000 screens in India alone is funded by Lyca Productions and has already fetched Rs 110 crore for its producers just in satellite rights.
