<p>A voice, resembling that of the late MGR, speaks of a young blackmailer on the prowl. This is followed by the voices of Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan. <br /><br />Even as they caution people, a long-haired youth with a camera in hand slips into the balcony noiselessly and, with a smooth motion takes a camera and clicks pictures. <br />“Only, this youth is not real and requires the help of some simple mechanics to even move around,” chuckles G Mohan, the man behind this idea, which was created to promote friend and producer Tirumalai’s new film Rasikkum Seemane. <br /><br />“I had earlier made the Kshana-Kshana (Kannada film) hoarding, which attracted wide-spread attention, though the film didn’t do that well. People came from far-off places to have a look at this new wonder. This time, Tirumalai came up with this subject of blackmail and asked me to do something novel. We thought of using LED bulbs at first, but slowly this idea took shape,” says Mohan, who is also a contractor. <br /><br />To make the figurine move, Mohan and his associates C Annamalai, a mechanical engineer and Satish Bekal, an electronics engineer, used an autorickshaw wiper, with a limit switch that allows the figurine to move some distance, and when pressed, would make the figurine stop. <br /><br />“We tried and tested about 15 motors before zeroing on this one,” says Mohan. The project got delayed when they were unable to make the hands move, but with some chains, “we solved it soon,” says Mohan. <br /><br />The 14x14 ft 3D hoarding, made at a cost of Rs one lakh, took a month to be completed. <br />While the Kshana-Kshana hoarding had a mini-waterfall and the title song playing, Mohan decided that a song wouldn’t gel with this one. <br /><br />“I suggested we get some dialogues speaking about the character. The director went to Chennai and dubbed the dialogues himself. We decided to use six famous voices including that of MGR, Rajni sir and Kamal sir and coordinated the figure’s movements with the dialogues. Since the hero plays a blackmailer, we thought this was perfect advertisement for the film.” <br /><br />Eight other similar hoardings are awaiting transportation to Chennai city, Chengalpet, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tirunelveli, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and other places. <br />Producer Tirumalai, who plans to release Rasikkum Seemane, directed by Vidyadharan with music by Vijay Anthony and cinematography by Pannerselvam, in November will be taking these 3D hoardings to theatres and malls. <br /><br />“We wanted to attract audiences in an innovative way. It is probably for the first time that such a hoarding has been made for a Tamil film,” says Tirumalai, adding, “this hoarding is sending a message asking people not to be scared but to face situations bravely.”<br /><br />Meanwhile, after pistol shots, waterfalls and sleazy cameras, Mohan is getting ready to make use of magic to make your favourite soft or hot drink disappear while the brand slogan flashes across another hoarding. <br /></p>
<p>A voice, resembling that of the late MGR, speaks of a young blackmailer on the prowl. This is followed by the voices of Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan. <br /><br />Even as they caution people, a long-haired youth with a camera in hand slips into the balcony noiselessly and, with a smooth motion takes a camera and clicks pictures. <br />“Only, this youth is not real and requires the help of some simple mechanics to even move around,” chuckles G Mohan, the man behind this idea, which was created to promote friend and producer Tirumalai’s new film Rasikkum Seemane. <br /><br />“I had earlier made the Kshana-Kshana (Kannada film) hoarding, which attracted wide-spread attention, though the film didn’t do that well. People came from far-off places to have a look at this new wonder. This time, Tirumalai came up with this subject of blackmail and asked me to do something novel. We thought of using LED bulbs at first, but slowly this idea took shape,” says Mohan, who is also a contractor. <br /><br />To make the figurine move, Mohan and his associates C Annamalai, a mechanical engineer and Satish Bekal, an electronics engineer, used an autorickshaw wiper, with a limit switch that allows the figurine to move some distance, and when pressed, would make the figurine stop. <br /><br />“We tried and tested about 15 motors before zeroing on this one,” says Mohan. The project got delayed when they were unable to make the hands move, but with some chains, “we solved it soon,” says Mohan. <br /><br />The 14x14 ft 3D hoarding, made at a cost of Rs one lakh, took a month to be completed. <br />While the Kshana-Kshana hoarding had a mini-waterfall and the title song playing, Mohan decided that a song wouldn’t gel with this one. <br /><br />“I suggested we get some dialogues speaking about the character. The director went to Chennai and dubbed the dialogues himself. We decided to use six famous voices including that of MGR, Rajni sir and Kamal sir and coordinated the figure’s movements with the dialogues. Since the hero plays a blackmailer, we thought this was perfect advertisement for the film.” <br /><br />Eight other similar hoardings are awaiting transportation to Chennai city, Chengalpet, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tirunelveli, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and other places. <br />Producer Tirumalai, who plans to release Rasikkum Seemane, directed by Vidyadharan with music by Vijay Anthony and cinematography by Pannerselvam, in November will be taking these 3D hoardings to theatres and malls. <br /><br />“We wanted to attract audiences in an innovative way. It is probably for the first time that such a hoarding has been made for a Tamil film,” says Tirumalai, adding, “this hoarding is sending a message asking people not to be scared but to face situations bravely.”<br /><br />Meanwhile, after pistol shots, waterfalls and sleazy cameras, Mohan is getting ready to make use of magic to make your favourite soft or hot drink disappear while the brand slogan flashes across another hoarding. <br /></p>
