South Indian actor Rajinikanth believes his upcoming Tamil science-fiction film, 2.o, is one the entire Indian cinema industry can be proud of.
“I enjoyed working on this film. This subject is very unique. This is not just a prestigious picture for the producers, director Shankar or the unit but it’s one for the whole Indian cinema,” Rajinikanth said in Mumbai at the first look launch event.
He’s confident the Rs3.5 billion (Dh188 million) mega-budget film will match Hollywood standards.
“Despite our [Indian cinema’s] technical excellence and the financial strength, we could not reach Hollywood standard yet. But I’m confident this film will reach Hollywood level. It’ll be a film our entire Indian film fraternity will be proud of,” he said.
Rajinikanth plays doctor-scientist Vaseegaran in the film, which is a sequel to his own 2010 blockbuster, Enthiran.
Akshay Kumar is being introduced as the antagonist, a scientist called Richard, who turns into Crow Man after an experiment goes wrong.
The film, which is directed by S Shankar, also stars Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey and Adil Hussain in important roles. It was shot entirely in 3D, and is slated for a Diwali 2017 release.
Kumar on Sunday unveiled the first poster of his character, introducing it as the new face of evil.
According to Lyca Productions, Kumar’s make-up for the character took six hours to perfect. “Every day he has to get up six hours early, so that he can be on the sets on time,” read a slide released by the makers.
Rajinikanth said he was tempted to play Kumar’s role.
“If given a chance, I would have played Akshay’s character. He is the real hero of the film,” Rajinikanth said.
Kumar said: “Director Shankar said my role will be difficult but I enjoyed it. The subject is very unique. I’m sure this film will reach the standards of Hollywood.”
Bollywood star Salman Khan also attended the launch.
“I just showed up without being invited because I wanted to meet Rajinikanth sir,” he said.
Khan called Rajinikanth as “garu’ (Telugu for sir). And the star seemed to reciprocate the affection. He said: “If Salman says yes, I’ll work with him in a film even tomorrow.”
