Enthiran – curious audience, optimistic Kollywood

The buzz has again reached a crescendo in the Tamil film industry. This time, it's the Rajinikanth-Aishwarya starrer Enthiran, all set for release on October 1. Even its trailer was well marketed. Theatres even printed tickets for the trailer, for the first time ever. The film is expected to rake in at least Rs 350 crore, overall.



According to Mr Hansraj Saxena, COO, Sun Pictures, a division of Sun TV Network, the movie is set to open in over 2,250 screens all over the world — over 500 screens in Tamil Nadu alone, 350 screens in Andhra Pradesh, 700 screens in the North. “It's yet to be finalised in the other South States,” he says. This is the first ever Indian film (with the same person in the lead) to be released in three languages simultaneously. Mr Saxena says the company has earmarked Rs 30 crore for marketing and promotion expenses. Refusing to reveal the total production cost, he said this would be “Asia's biggest-budget film so far.”

Enthiran ( Robot in Hindi) has taken nearly two years to complete. “In fact, the time span is very little, in proportion to the magnitude of the project. Careful planning at the pre-production level has helped us accomplish it,” says Mr S. Shankar, who directed the film.

Originally Kamal Haasan and Preity Zinta were pencilled in to perform the lead roles. “We even did a photo shoot with them. But for various reasons it got shelved,” he said. Yuen Wo-ping ( The Matrix) did the action, Stan Winston Studios ( Jurassic Park) did creature designs, George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic did the effects, and Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman composed the music. According to media reports, music rights were sold for Rs 7 crore.

According to industry observers, the company must have spent anywhere between Rs 150 crore and Rs 175 crore on the project.

“It's a massive investment, but the producer will reap much more than investments with ease, because this is a Rajini film,” says a seasoned film distributor.

Says another film industry veteran, “Assuming that the movie is screened in 2,200 screens worldwide, it should gross comfortably more than Rs 100 crore in the very first week.”

via BL