Rajini fans all around the globe have been eagerly waiting for the release of '2.0' since its announcement in 2015. The movie which is a spiritual sequel to 2010 blockbuster 'Enthiran', directed by another fame, Shankar, and it features an ensemble star cast including Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Adil Hussain, Kalabhavan Shajon, and Riyaz Khan.
Upon the announcement of the film, makers have revealed that '2.0' will have its theatrical release on Diwali 2017. Later, the release date of the movie was postponed to January 26, 2018. However, due to extensive computer graphic works, the makers failed to fulfill their promise, and the release date was again extended to April 2018.
But the latest updates show that the release of '2.0' may not happen in April 2018, as the computer graphics of the movie are not completed. It has also been speculated that Rajinikanth's 'Kaala' with 'Kabali' director Pa Ranjith will grace the big screens in April and, the '2.0' will make its way to hit the screens only on the eve of the Independence Day.
However, on February 10, Rajinikanth has told the media that the final release date of '2.0' will be revealed soon. Ahead of the official announcement, here's a look at what makes the film '2.0' a big sensation of the year 2018:
The unquestionable Rajinikanth factor
Rajinikanth is undoubtedly the biggest superstar in the Indian film industry, and his star power is way higher than the big Khans in Bollywood. The South Indian actor has a huge fan following in foreign countries including Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand, and he has the capability to take even the Hollywood audiences to a state of craze with his style. When it comes to '2.0', the biggest point of attraction is nothing but the presence of Rajini in the star cast.
Even though Rajinikanth's latest release 'Kabali' collected Rs. 286 crore from the box-office, fans of the actor were not that satisfied with the final output, as they expected something much bigger from their favorite hero. Millions of Rajinikanth fans believe that '2.0' will break all collection records when robot Chitti once again graces more than 10,000 screens in spanking passion.
Bollywood action icon in Kollywood for the first time
In the initial phase of discussion, director Shankar reportedly approached Kamal Haasan and Vikram to do the role of the main antagonist in '2.0'. However, both actors declined the offer, and subsequently, he had a discussion with Universal action star Arnold Schwarzenegger. At that time, many reports surfaced online stating that the 'Terminator' star has given a positive nod to act in this movie. However, the Hollywood star reportedly walked out of the project due to creative differences with the director. Later, Shankar roped in Akshay Kumar, the Bollywood action icon to do the role of the main villain in this flick.
This is for the first time that Akshay is acting in a South Indian movie, and his fans believe that the 'Khiladi of Bollywood' will make this debut memorable by all means.
Shankar later cast British model Amy Jackson to play the lead heroine in this film. Amy has previously worked with Shankar in the blockbuster movie 'I'. After seeing the brilliant performance of Kalabhavan Shajon in the Malayalam Industry hit 'Drishyam', Shankar roped him to do another crucial character in this movie.
A storyline very similar to Hollywood movies
Shankar is such a master craftsman who always thinks out of the box in his movies. Widely renowned as the Indian version of James Cameron among his fans, the director has always introduced new techniques of filmmaking to the Indian industry, and most of the times, these moves were well received by the audience.
Even though the film crew has maintained tight confidentiality regarding the storyline of the film, the making video of the film gave a glimpse of the story. The climax portion of 'Enthiran' featured Chitti, the humanoid robot gets dismantled by Dr Vaseegaran before being placed in a museum. The second part of the movie might begin with the introduction of a dreaded villain who creates havoc in all nooks of the globe. To fight against this enemy, Dr Vaseegaran will be compelled to assemble Chitti again. The movie, in all probabilities, will feature the fight between Chitti and this dreaded villain.
Mammoth budget and a grand release
'2.0' is being made with a whopping budget of Rs. 450 crore ($70 million) which makes it the costliest Indian movie ever made. The director has reportedly roped in several Hollywood technicians to do the computer graphics for the film and being a perfectionist, Shankar does not want any stone unturned.
Academy Award winner A R Rahman is composing the music for this film. Two songs of the film were released recently, and both of them emerged as chartbusters quickly. Acclaimed cinematographer Nirav Shah has cranked the camera for this flick.
Lyca Productions, the producers of this movie are aiming for a grand release for this film. If everything goes well, the movie will hit more than 10,000 theaters all across the globe with premiers in countries like UAE, Singapore, US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.
Box-office prediction
Rajinikanth is the man who is always fond of setting records. The sequel prequel of '2.0', Enthiran grossed Rs. 289 crore worldwide and this figure continued to reign as a South Indian top record until the release of 'Baahubali'. The first part of 'Baahubali' collected Rs. 650 crore followed by its sequel 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion', which went to earn an unprecedented figure of Rs.1,710 crore worldwide.
In the meantime, Aamir Khan's Dangal, Secret Superstar, and PK have collected Rs. 2,122, Rs. 918, and Rs.854 crore respectively. In addition, Salman Khan's 'Bhajrangi Bhaijaan' also made it big at the box-office, followed by 'Tiger Zinda Hai', which grossed Rs. 854 and Rs.560 crore respectively.
With these records already set, Rajinikanth's forthcoming film '2.0' faces a tremendous challenge to cross at least some of these figures, if not all. It remains to be seen whether 2018 turns out to be the year of Tamil films in India after the Telugu film industry's reign with 'Baahubali 2' last year.
