JOIN USReturn of the superstars
Two top stars. Two big projects. One year.
This is how 2012 can be described as far as Tamil cinema is concerned. Known for taking time between films, Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan, the two icons of Kollywood today, are making movies back to back this time around.
Superstar Rajinikanth is expected to start Kochadaiyaan sometime soon. He even plans on completing it quickly so that he can focus on his magnum opus, Rana, a movie that had hit a roadblock due to his illness last year.
Ulaga Nayagan Kamal Hassan, on the other hand, is busy shaping Viswaroopam for now and will begin work on his bilingual project, Amar Hain, by mid-2012.
According to sources from Rajini’s camp, Kochadaiyaan, a 3D film that will be made using ‘state-of-the-art technology’, will hit the floors soon. The shooting will be wrapped up by June and after a month’s rest, Rajini will start working on Rana from August.
“Rajini’s younger daughter, Soundarya Ashwin, is busy doing groundwork for Kochadaiyaan. She has roped in the best talent for the project which includes the likes of A R Rahman, Resul Pookutty, Katrina Kaif, Shobana, Sneha and Aadhi,” a source informs.
The source further goes on to add, “Since Rajini has been resting since his return from Singapore and since Rana requires a lot of hard work, it was decided that Kochadaiyaan would be completed first as it wouldn’t stress the actor as much.”
Interestingly, while Kochadaiyaan has Soundarya on the director’s chair with K S Ravikumar helping her, Rana would see a role reversal, with Ravikumar wielding the megaphone and Rajini’s daughter helping him.
Moving on to Kamal’s camp, the versatile actor is on the verge of completing his multicrore, multilingual extravaganza, Viswaroopam. With a long schedule in the United States that just got over, Kamal is back in Chennai to focus on the film’s post-production works. In the meantime, he is also getting ready to start his ambitious project, Amar Hain.
“Only the climax scene of Viswaroopam has to be shot, which Kamal is expected to do within a month. He is planning to release Viswaroopam in three languages (Tamil, Telugu and Hindi) this summer. After that, his focus will be on Amar Hain,”a source reveals.
In this regard, Kamal says, “I had penned this script a couple of years ago. But, I had to wait for the right time. The project needed a lot of intellectual and financial inputs. Now, I feel that its time has come.” Just as in Kamal’s previous venture, Indian, this movie will take on corruption, but on a different note. Though Kamal has finalised the Hindi title, he is yet to name the Tamil version.
Atul Tiwari, who is taking care of dialogues for the Bollywood version of Viswaroopam, will also pen the dialogues for Amar Hain. “Kamal is very comfortable with Tiwari and he believes that the latter will get the emotions right through his words. Hence, he is opting for Tiwari again,” sources say.
Meanwhile, the whole industry is happy that the two biggest stars are busy with their new projects. “Whenever Rajini announces a new film, stake holders of this industry, from distributors to cinema-hall owners to the ones who run canteens in theatres, will be all smiles.
They will start counting the days for the film’s release, which is nothing short of a Deepavali for the superstar’s fans all over the world. Likewise, Kamal’s films too are widely celebrated,” says Murali V, who has been tracking the industry for more than three decades.
He adds, “Now that the two stars will present us with four films, the year ahead looks promising. For, there was not a single movie from either Rajini or Kamal in 2011. As a result, there were only a few genuine hits — the number is not more than four, to be honest. It is a wonder that Rajini and Kamal continue to dominate the box office by occupying the two top slots for nearly 35 years.
Despite the arrival of new actors, these two superstars remain popular.”
Going down memory lane, he says, “The biggest turning point for Kamal and Rajini came in the early 1980s, when the two actors made a conscious decision not to act together. They also devised their own paths, which would not clash with each other. There started a journey where there was no looking back, one that is still continuing in a strong and steady manner. In other words, the decision was not just a turning point for Rajini and Kamal, it was one for Kollywood as well.”