In what could be the most expensive ‘first look’ event for a feature film in Indian cinema, actor Rajinikanth’s multi-lingual film 2.0, directed by Shankar and produced by Lyca Productions, will be unvieled at Yashraj Studios in Mumbai on Sunday.
While the first-look of characters played by both Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar will be unveiled on Sunday, the superstar tweeted the film’s poster on Wednesday evening, which instantly began trending on Twitter. All the big names associated with film, including the producer Subaskaran, actor Amy Jackson, composer A.R. Rahman and others, are expected to be in attendance.
Rs.6-crore event
The production house has commissioned Wizcraft, a well-known entertainment and communications company, to put together the most expensive first-look event, pegged at a whopping Rs. 6 crore.
“This is a global film, which is being produced with a huge budget of Rs. 350 crore. We wanted to leave no stone unturned and wanted to reveal the first look in all grandiose. So, we roped in Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar to host the hour-long event. Characters played by Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar will be revealed in 3-D,” said Raju Mahalingam, creative head, Lyca Productions.
The mega-event, which will be broadcast live on Lyca Productions’ YouTube channel, is likely to be followed by a marketing blitzkrieg in India through newspapers and television.
With the marketing budget pegged at Rs. 40 crore, Raju Mahalingam said that Tamil fans need not feel siappointed about the event being held in Mumbai. “This is just the first-look launch. We are hoping to organise much bigger events in the coming months for launch of the teaser, trailer and the audio of the film, across the cosmopolitan cities in India,” he said.
If you thought the recent demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 rupee notes could have thrown the spanner into their works, you would be surprised. “We had absolutely no issues. Let me state very clearly: we deal in cheques and every penny is accounted for,” said Mr. Mahalingam.
