It came as a surprise to everyone in Indian film trade when the news of Rajinikanth’s Kaala getting advanced to the April 27 weekend was announced last week. Considered the biggest release weekend of the year, the date was earlier kept aside for the release of Rajinikanth and Shankar’s ₹400-crore magnum opus 2.0 . The science fiction film is now expected to release later this year.
There has been no official statement from the producers of 2.0 , Lyca Productions about the delay and new release date.
The trade believes that the release of 2.0 has been pushed, owing to pending VFX work. As many as 11 studios from across the globe are currently working on the visual effects. At the film’s audio launch in Dubai, VFX supervisor Srinivas Mohan said that 2.0 is undoubtedly the most challenging project he has worked on.
The shoot of Kaala is complete and post-production work is going on in full swing. Rajinikanth is said to be playing a Robin Hood-like don based in Mumbai (“The don of dons is back” tweeted Dhanush) in the film, with Nana Patekar playing a politician. The buzz is that there will be political overtones to suit Rajinikanth’s new image as a politician. The dubbing work for the film has started and Rajinikanth is also expected to complete his portions by end of this month. And since there is not much VFX work, the film is trying to get the censor certificate by the end of March for a release on April 27.
Remember Rajinikanth’s Kabali took time to get censored and the film’s first release date had to be shifted?
A five-day weekend
The trade sees this switch between two Rajinikanth films as a smart move as the actor continues to stick to a April 27 release. With May Day falling on Tuesday, this will ensure a five-day weekend, which means phenomenal numbers at the box-office.
Last year, Baahubali 2 got a humongous opening, as it released for the May Day weekend. In the overseas markets, it is the beginning of the summer season, a favourite with movie-goers. In Tamil Nadu, Kaala will get a solo release, as other smaller films like Mr Chandramouli which was scheduled on that day, has announced that they will be shifting dates.
Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam 2 , which was eyeing an April 27 release date, will now come only at a later date. Kamal is now caught up with the launch of his political party on February 21 and is also planning to start work by June for Shankar-directed Indian 2 , produced by Lyca.
At the same time Kaala dubbed into Telugu (where Rajinikanth has the biggest market in India outside of Tamil Nadu) will have to clash with Mahesh Babu’s political thriller Bharat Ane Nenu, where he plays chief minister. The producers of the film are adamant that they had announced this release date a few months back and will stick to it.
Competition from the West
Meanwhile, Disney India has announced that the big Hollywood action adventure summer release Avengers: Infinity War will release on April 27 in India, a week ahead of its worldwide release on May 4. For Disney and Marvel, India has emerged as one of the biggest growing markets after the success of The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), which also released a week before its international début. The superhero film, which has a huge fan base in India, is planning a wide release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu along with the original English version and will provide some competition to Kaala .
All eyes are now on Kaala’s release, especially after Rajinikanth’s December 31 announcement that he is joining politics. It is going to be an important release for the superstar, the first after his political plunge. And the political buzz is that the ruling party (Rajini has been critical of them) is already sharpening its knives. The box-office success of Kaala will also determine the kind of political opening he gets in Tamil Nadu’s overcrowded market of political parties.
