| Some people with delusions of grandeur just never learn and continue to romance fate and woo peril in flamboyant fashion. Despite two major star-studded disasters (Kites, $34 million; Raavan, $27 million), yet another biggie is all set to scream centre-stage with all cylinders firing! Endhiran (Tamil) The Robot (Hindi) is the name of this hugely bilingual ambitious venture produced by S. Kalanidhi Maran and directed by S. Shanker. The budget? Hold your breath guys … an insane $34 million. The project — on stream for the last two years and residing in the director’s mind for over a decade, withrefusals from Kamal Hassan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan — has had sane B-Town heavyweights diving for smelling salts while others remain bewildered about where this cataclysmic gamble will take the film, the stars, the audience, and the industry. Film tracker Ashish Paul is stunned. “I laugh so that I may not weep! In this day and age when big-budget disasters seem to be the rule rather than the exception, you need to be a Houdini or P.C. Sorcar to back such a humongously expensive project! Once again, the dependence seems to be on technology and special effects. When will these guys ever learn that absorbing and engaging story-telling is the name of the game? Neither 3 Idiots nor Rasjneeti showcased hi-tech, remember … and look at how those films rocked! The other concern is the star-cast. Rajni maybe dynamite in the South, but elsewhere he hardly enjoys similar brand equity. Ashwariya (Rai) is gorgeous and talented, but she has never carried a film on her own. Besides, her ‘married’ persona has hardly worked wonders in terms of Box Office. So everything put together, it’s a scary proposition. Hope it doesn’t make robots of all associated with the product!” Paul has a point. While big stars and sophisticated, new-age technology is important, it should never aim or attempt to dominate or define content. Remember how Blue sank without a trace? Film Critic Bobby Bedi, however, begs to differ: “This is year 2010 guys and we live in an exciting and resurgent India inhabited by the largest contigent of youth in the world. Let’s demonstrate some guts and kick some ass, yaar! Youngistan rules! Drive, courage, passion, confidence, self belief, focus and talent, intelligently and creatively leveraged are good enough reasons for a shot at success. Remember ET? What about Jurassic Park and the recent Avataar? Weren’t they driven by guts and intuition? I believe that a well-made film, sharply marketed to its target audience, has every chance to swing. Agreed, no one can ever predict the fate of any movie, but to get epileptic because a few big budget films bombed is really dumb. I genuinely believe that this film has a huge and captive global market because of its scale and dimension and also because of brand equity that Rajni and Ash enjoy worldwide. Not to forget global superstar music director — the mozart of Madras — A.R. Rahman’s music! That is a huge value addition. I wish it good luck all the way.” Director Shanker is equally enthusiastic, optimistic and upbeat. “It’s a complete entertainer re-enforced by the most breathtaking special effects ever seen on Indian screens! Shot in Peru, Brazil and USA with a foreign crew consisting some of the biggest names and animatronics used in blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Terminator and Avataar, the budget is totally justified. There are no free lunches in this business and to connect, entertain and enchant today’s demanding and promiscuous viewers, we need to pull out all the stops in the thrills n’ chills department. It is designed, crafted and created specially to take cinema viewing experience to new and exciting level” Rajnikant reportedly pocketed a cool $10 million crores, Ash $1.4 million and almost half the budget ignited the special effects. This is one dhamaka movie to watch out for! It could finally and decisively end the eternal debate killing filmmakers the world over — does size really matter? |