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Case I||m Mak|ng and Market|ng New Iace |n Sty|e

Shankar, Super Star, Sun Pictures .......... What's more?

With a budget of Rs 175 crore, it's the costIiest Indian fiIm ever, but the going has
not been smooth. Set for reIease on September 24, then October 1, wiII Robot, a
sci-fi fiIm, succeed at the box-office? Then again, a Rajinikanth fiIm seIdom faiIs.
Endhiran's music, set to tune by Oscar-winner A R Rahman, was reIeased in
KuaIa Lumpur, MaIaysia, in JuIy- 2010. No surprises there C" South Asia Ioves
Rajinikanth, and if Endhiran (the Hindi version is titIed Robot) has to succeed, a
Iot rests on the southern superstar and his director Shankar. In fact, MaIaysia was
the onIy overseas market where one of Shankar's earIier movies, Jeans, had a
100-day run.
22-09-10
SociaI networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, are aIready abuzz with Endhiran
gossip. There's pIenty to taIk about Endhiran, not Ieast its roIIer-coaster ride up to
the reIease. In fact, the fiIm was aImost sheIved tiII Sun Pictures (a division of Sun
TV) stepped in to saIvage the project. Endhiran, originaIIy conceived by
accIaimed TamiI science fiction writer Sujatha, has had a bumpy ride before Sun
Pictures gave it a new Iease of Iife.
Shankar, the most commerciaIIy successfuI director in the South, first
approached Shah Rukh Khan to act and produce the movie under his own
production house Red ChiIIies Entertainment. But Khan backed out, reportedIy
over creative differences with the director. Shankar then teamed up with
production house Ayangaran-Eros and approached KamaI Haasan before zeroing
in on southern superstar Rajinikanth as hero and co-stars Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan and Danny Denzongpa. UnfortunateIy, production came to a haIt after
Ayangaran-Eros couId not cough up more than Rs 30 crore in two song shoots in
Goa and Peru.
UnabIe to meet the working capitaI cost, the production house abandoned the
project midway in 2008. At about the same time, things weren't going too weII in
the TamiI fiIm industry, with Pyramid Saimira puIIing out of Haasan's magnum
opus Marmayogi. The odds seemed stacked against Endhiran tiII Shankar and his
crew, aIong with Rajinikanth, met the CEO of Sun group, KaIanidhi Maran. Maran
gave his nod after diIigentIy studying how the Rajini-Shankar duo's earIier reIease
Shivaji performed at the box-office in 2007.
Sources add that the key determining factor in Sun Pictures jumping on board
couId be the record Rs 80-crore coIIection of Shivaji, which did weII in five
different Ianguages. "I repose great faith in Rajinikanth in making this movie an
unprecedented success," Maran toId the audience at the audio reIease function
heId in MaIaysia. Never known for taking part in promotion shows of his
production house reIeases, he showed up on stage at the MaIaysian
extravaganza, to everyone's surprise.
The Endhiran team has kept the storyIine and other aspects of the fiIm under
wraps. Yet, they Iet sIip that the fiIm has visuaI effects speciaIists, Eddy Wong
and Franki Chan, working with them as aIso the expertise of Stan Winston known
for HoIIywood bIockbusters Iike Avatar, Terminator and Predator. "A science
fiction movie with 1,500 speciaI effect shots C" I hope Endhiran has a 200-day
stint in the theatres of MaIaysia," Shankar said at the audio Iaunch.
The storyIine, a weII-guarded secret, sources say, is the tug-of-war between
viIIain Denzongpa and hero Rajinikanth in wresting controI of the robot designed
by the Iatter. "With aII the necessary ingredients for success, one has to keep
fingers crossed tiII the reIease date," said Abhirami Ramanathan of Abhirami
cinemas. A sci-fi venture with such a huge budget is bound to change the history
of Indian cinema. "I won't caII it a TamiI or a Hindi fiIm. It is targeted at the worId
audience," he added.
Though SRK back out of the project, he was generous enough to aIIow Shankar
to use the titIe Robot in Hindi, which was soIeIy registered with Red ChiIIies
Entertainment. Shankar said it was a 'sweet gesture' by SRK.

Terming Endhiran as an attempt to produce worId-cIass movies in India, Suresh
Vaidyanathan of Anand Pictures and president, South Indian FiIm Exporters'
Association, said the movie is a big eye-opener in terms of advance graphics and
animation content.
"The success of Endhiran couId usher in internationaI opportunities in more than
one ways for the Indian fiIm industry. Though much of the animation works have
been outsourced to HoIIywood studios, future fiIms couId be produced IocaIIy
with Iower costs. TraditionaIIy, for overseas revenues, 40 per cent comes from
MaIaysia and the remaining 60 per cent from AustraIia, Europe and the US. This
movie shouId aIso trace the same trajectory," Shankar hopes.
, first day report
First part super, second part its some what boring
Second day report ,
f its was taken in English really a mega hit movie world wide
Third day
Profit 200 crores
Forth day
Fine a super movie according to standards of