User:Nikeshraje/sandbox

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18Rajeswari
File:18Rajeswari poster July 2012.jpg
TMB release poster
Directed byBala
Written by
Screenplay byBala
Story byBala
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyR. Rathnavelu
Edited byAnthony
Music byA. R. Rahman
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 1 October 2012 (2012-10-01)
Running time
165 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Nikesh (English: Robot) is a 2010 Tamil science fiction film co-written and directed by S. Shankar. The film features Rajinikanth in dual roles, as a scientist and an android robot, alongside Aishwarya Rai whilst Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam, Karunas, Kalabhavan Mani, Devadarshini, and Cochin Haneefa play supporting roles.[1] The film's story revolves around the scientist's struggle to control his creation, the android robot whose software was upgraded to give it the ability to comprehend and generate human emotions. The plan backfires as the robot falls in love with the scientist's fiancée and is further manipulated to bring destruction to the world when it lands in the hands of a rival scientist.

After nearly a decade of pre-production work, the film was shot over two years beginning in 2008. The film marked the Indian cinema-debut of Legacy Effects, which was responsible for the film's animatronics. The film's background score and soundtrack, which was composed by A. R. Rahman, became the best-selling world album on the iTunes Store in three countries within a few days of its digital release. The film released worldwide on 1 October 2010, along with its dubbed versions: Robo in Telugu and Robot in Hindi.[2] Produced by Kalanithi Maran, it became India's most expensive film to date.[3][4] Upon release, it also made the largest worldwide opening for an Indian film.[5][6]

The film enjoyed positive critical acclaim and commercial success, collecting the largest opening weekend revenue of any Tamil film.[7] It was ultimately claimed to be the highest-grossing Indian film of all time,[8][9] although because official box office records are not kept in India, this cannot be independently verified. It also went on to receive appraisals from notable celebrities in India and across the globe. The following year, the film won a number of awards during many ceremonies, including that year's Star Screen Awards, National Film Awards, Vijay Awards, International Indian Film Academy Awards, and Filmfare Awards South, mainly for its art direction and special effects, which were handled by Sabu Cyril and V. Srinivas Mohan, respectively.

Plot[edit]

Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth), a scientist specialized in robotics, creates a sophisticated android robot (Rajinikanth) in his own likeness after a decade of intensive original research. Vaseegaran explains to his assistants Siva (Santhanam) and Ravi (Karunas) that the android must first be observed for its interaction with humans. His mother (Revathi Sankaran) suggests naming it Chitti Babu.

File:Enthiranshot2.jpg
Sana peers over Vaseegaran at Chitti at the International Robotic Conference

At the International Robotic Conference in India, Vaseegaran introduces Chitti to the delegates. In the meantime, it is revealed that Vaseegaran's mentor, Dr. Bohra (Danny Denzongpa) is preoccupied in a botched research project to create a similar superintelligent android robot. Meanwhile, Chitti endears himself to Vaseegaran's girlfriend, Sana (Aishwarya Rai) and helps her cheat in her medical school exams. When they are caught, Sana lies to the investigators that she does not know Chitti; thus Chitti learns that humans may choose to lie for self-preservation.

Vaseegaran prepares Chitti for a panel evaluation by the Artificial Intelligence Research and Development (AIRD) Institute, which is headed by Dr. Bohra. The panel enquires whether Chitti's build conforms to the Three Laws of Robotics of Isaac Asimov. Vaseegaran replies in the negative. During evaluation, Chitti almost stabs Vaseegaran at Bohra's command. Bohra convinces the evaluation committee that Chitti could not be relied upon in the battlefield because he could be easily manipulated to turn against his handlers. Vaseegaran decides to modify Chitti's neural schema to allow him to understand human behaviour and emotions. Chitti eventually gets angry once on Vaseegaran, which assures him and Sana that Chitti can now feel emotions. Later Chitti applies his text book knowledge of symphysiotomy to successfully handle the complicated childbirth of Latha (Devadarshini), Sana's friend. The procedure is covered live by the media. Dr. Bohra arrives to congratulate Dr. Vaseegaran on the achievement. He also lets Chitti pass the AIRD evaluation. Chitti then begins to see Sana as its romantic interest and makes advances. This triggers a confrontation between Vaseegaran and Chitti. Sana tries to explain to Chitti that she can love him only as a friend and asks him to forget her. Chitti later deliberately fails in an evaluation conducted by the Indian Army. Enraged by the act of insubordination, Vaseegaran chops Chitti into pieces and throws it away in a landfill site.

Bohra retrieves Chitti's parts from the junkyard and reassembles the android. He gives Chitti a new appearance, and embeds a "red chip" inside Chitti, converting him into a ruthless terminator. Chitti gatecrashes Vaseegaran and Sana's wedding, then kidnaps and imprisons Sana. Chitti begins to create replicas of itself and kills Dr. Bohra. Soon, Chitti's army of robots cause mayhem in the city and takes over the AIRD Institute. Vaseegaran undertakes the task of stopping Chitti. Disguised as one of the robots, he successfully infiltrates the AIRD Institute. He instructs the police to cut power supply to the entire city. When Chitti and his army are about to run out of charge, they seize vehicles on the road and use the batteries to recharge themselves. Chitti eventually finds Vaseegaran, but as Chitti is about to kill him, the police force strikes AIRD. The robots assemble themselves into sphere, snake, tower, and drill bit formations to defend themselves. One of the robots is immobilized by a grenade explosion and is taken into custody by Vaseegaran. He uploads a worm into Chitti's network which temporarily brings down the robot army. Chitti identifies the source of the worm and sends a "self-destruct" command to the robot. The robots assemble in the shape of a giant and chase Vaseegaran's armoured bus. Vaseegaran uses the data he had backed up from the destroyed robot to de-magnetise the robot army, collapsing the giant formation. Chitti gets captured by a huge magnetic wall, allowing Vaseegaran access to Chitti's internal control panel, through which he instructs all the other robots to self-destruct. He removes the red chip, causing Chitti to calm down.

In a court hearing, the jury rules capital punishment for Vaseegaran, citing the large number of casualties and damages to public property caused by the robot army. Chitti, explaining to the court that the law allows it to be treated as material evidence, if not as a witness, explains that it was Dr. Bohra who caused Chitti's deviant behaviour. He shows the court, using his eyes as 3D projectors, the video footage of Dr. Bohra installing the red chip inside him. The court decides to drop all charges against Vaseegaran, while concluding that Chitti should be dismantled in order to avoid further mishaps of the same kind in future. Back at the lab, an emotional Vaseegaran tells Chitti to dismantle itself. While taking off its own parts one by one, Chitti apologizes to Sana and Vaseegaran for the problems it had caused. However, before completely dismantling itself, Vaseegaran comforts Chitti saying that the latter alone was not responsible for what happened. And that humans were responsible too as Chitti only learned from them. A smiling Chitti finally takes out its head and dismantles itself, with all others around him including Vaseegaran and Sana in tears.

The plot advances to 2030 in a museum, where children are escorted by a guide which displays of Chitti's body parts arranged. The guide tells the students that Chitti was the most advanced humanoid robot ever created, but was dismantled due to "certain reasons". A curious student (Shriya Sharma) asks why, to which Chitti's head responds, "I started to think".

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

After completing Nayak: The Real Hero in 2001, Shankar announced a project with Kamal Haasan and Preity Zinta titled Robo,[10] to be produced by the now-defunct production company Media Dreams.[11][12][13] Despite announcing the project, due to a lack of backing, the project was canceled and Shankar began work on Boys. In 2005, Shankar made another project, Anniyan, which was mistaken to be the renamed title for Robot.[14] Later in 2007, Shankar stated that his next project would be produced by his production house, S Pictures.[15] In July 2007, Shahrukh Khan was signed on to be the male lead of Robot as well as the producer of the film.[16] However, in October 2007, Shahrukh Khan and Shankar officially called off the project due to creative differences.[17]

After further media speculation about Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan being roped in, official reports surfaced in early January 2008, that Rajinikanth was finalized for the project.[18] Later in January 2008, Ayngaran International and Eros Entertainment agreed to become the producers of Robot. The film was unable to keep the name Robot in Tamil Nadu due to the English title. Till mid-2011, the government there exempted entertainment tax to films with Tamil titles.[19] It was confirmed in September 2008 that the film has been renamed as Enthiran.[20] The film's storyboarding and scripting was going on as told by Shankar in two interviews. It was subsequently announced that all those who have been committed for Robot should sign an agreement accepting that they will not commit themselves to any other project for the next two years of its production, with an exemption to the female lead, Aishwarya Rai.[21]

In December 2008,[22] Eros cited the failures of Drona and Yuvvraj for putting them under financial pressure. Soon, Ayngaran International too claimed that it was affected by the global financial crisis of 2008, forcing both production houses to transfer the project to Sun Pictures, who also attempted to negotiate a deal with HBO Films to release the film with English subtitles in the West.[23][24] A final estimate of the budget was claimed to be 162 crore.[25]

Casting[edit]

Apart from the original decided casting of Rajinikanth in the lead role, S. Shankar as director, and A. R. Rahman as film composer, the rest of the cast was named over the following year. Several heroines were approached to essay the lead female role with Aishwarya Rai,[26] Priyanka Chopra,[27] Deepika Padukone,[28] Asin Thottumkal,[29] Trisha Krishnan,[30] Shriya Saran,[30] Priyamani, and Nayantara[31] at the forefront. In late January 2008, Rai was announced as the heroine of the project and she later confirmed her appearance in the film to the news channel, Aaj Tak.[32] In a subsequent interview, Rai expressed how much she always wanted work with Shankar and Rajinikanth, and was eager to work on the project.[33] For the lead antagonist role Amitabh Bachchan,[34] J. D. Chakravarthy,[35] Narain[36] and Arjun Sarja were considered,[37] but Danny Denzongpa was signed for the role.[38] Comedians Santhanam and Karunas were signed up to portray important roles in December 2008.[39]

Sujatha Rangarajan originally announced as the dialogue writer of the film, died during the production stages, with Madhan Karky Vairamuthu being named as his successor.[40] Along with Shankar's usual directorial assistants, Manoj Bharathiraja, son of noted filmmaker Bharathiraja, was signed on to be an assistant director.[41] Sabu Cyril was signed up as the art director, while R. Rathnavelu took up the post of the cinematographer, after K. V. Anand, Manikandan, Nirav Shah, Tirru, and Ravi K. Chandran all opted out.[42][43][44] The music composed by Rahman would feature lyrics by Vairamuthu and Pa. Vijay, while Raju Sundaram would choreograph dance moves. The film would be edited by Anthony Gonsalves and visual effects by V. Srinivas Mohan.[45][46] Manish Malhotra and Mary E. Vogt, known for her work in Inspector Gadget (1999) and the Men in Black series, together would be in charge of costume designs. Along with Vogt, Yuen Woo Ping, the stunt co-ordinator for Enthiran, and the leading US-based Legacy Effects—formerly known as Stan Winston Studio—who were responsible for animatronics in the film, made their Indian cinema-debut.[47][48]

Filming[edit]

[[:File:Chitti Incomplete.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The robotic mannequin seen in Enthiran was constructed by animatronics company Legacy Effects in the United States.]] Filming began on 15 February 2008 in Chennai, when portfolio photographer Venket Ram did a photo shoot with Rajinikanth.[44] Following this initial shoot, S. Shankar and R. Rathnavelu went on a world tour for location-hunting. The team visited Vienna, Austria; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Hanoi, Vietnam to pick suitable locations.[49] The first three photo sessions were held with Rajinikanth in Mumbai and Chennai, with Aishwarya Rai featuring in the fourth session.[50] The film's visual effects supervisor V. Srinivas Mohan revealed in a video interview that the film would be a pioneer in India, incorporating previsualization techniques for seamless rendering of the computer-generated imagery and animatronics.[45][46]

The first schedule of the film commenced on 8 September 2008 in Peru, where a song sequence featuring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai was shot under the choreography of Raju Sundaram and Claudia Bruckmann at the historic site of Machu Picchu. Other scenes for the song were finished off in the United States and then Brazil.[51][52] Another song was shot in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil. The shooting for the second schedule continued in the Indian state of Goa, where the initial talkie portions were filmed for ten days.[53] The third schedule for the film included shooting in Himachal Pradesh for a song, which was then followed by scenes being canned in and around Chennai.[54][55] Scenes featuring a Robotics conference involving Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai, Santhanam and Karunas were carried out at Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering and the Vellore Institute of Technology with over four hundred students being used as extras.[56] A set depicting the Robot formation was created in a period of 45 days.[57] The final schedule of filming was held on 7 July 2010, on which the entire cast and crew took part in a celebration on the sets, commemorating the completion of the two-year filming process.[58]

Music[edit]

The film's soundtrack, composed by A. R. Rahman, was released on 31 July 2010. It coincided with a promotional event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[59] The soundtrack album's release rights were purchased by Think Music for 7 crore (US$1.6 million).[60][61] After the second day of release, the album reached number one on the Top 10 World Albums chart on iTunes in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, making it the first Indian album to reach the spot.[62][63] The Telugu album released on 6 August, while the Hindi album released on 16 August.[64][65]

Release[edit]

In August 2010, a few media reports claimed that Sun Pictures had sold the distribution rights of Robo, the Telugu version, to Telugu film producer Chadalavada Srinivasa Rao in Andhra Pradesh for 27 crore.[66] The claim was later denied by Sun Pictures, who clarified that the company had not yet sold any distribution rights to anyone.[67] After an initial unsuccessful attempt to take legal action on Sun Pictures, Srinivasa Rao lodged a complaint with the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce against the film studio, claiming that they had cheated him.[68] A formal investigation was launched following a police complaint from Sun Pictures and two individuals, Udhayakumar, a production manager, and Surendran, his accomplice, were arrested for illegally trying to sell the film distribution rights by creating a fake document that claimed the distribution rights of Robo were to be sold to Srinivasa Rao.[69]

A controversy regarding the film's plot also originated that month as Indian author Vijayarke claimed that Enthiran's story was similar to that of his 2002 science fiction novel, Man Robot, and demanded a credit for himself in the film. Vijayarke claimed that he realized the similarity after hearing S. Shankar narrate the plot during the film's audio launch, after which he emailed the director with his novel's story, seeking clarification.[70] Yet another scandal broke out after the release of the film when a Tamil novelist, Aarur Thamizhnadan, made a complaint with the Greater Chennai Police against the director and producer of the Enthiran, claiming that they had plagiarised the story idea from his novel Jugiba that was published in a vernacular magazine Iniya Udhayam in 1996.[71] In 2007, the same group published the novel as the book titled Thik Thik Dheepika.[72] Unlike the previous author however, Thamizhnadan took the issue to the Madras High Court in November 2010.[73] Following Thamizhnadan, other authors also claimed the story of Enthiran to be theirs.[74]

On October 1, 2010, the film opened with 2,250 prints in approximately 3000 screens worldwide,[75][76] including 1400 screens in Tamil Nadu,[9] 128 screens in Kerala,[77] 45 screens in Karnataka,[78] and 1000 screens with 750 prints in North India.[76][79] The film was released by Sun Pictures in Tamil Nadu; Gemini Film Circuit released the film across North India, while Seven Arts released the film in Kerala.[80][81] The film opened in 300 screens overseas.[82][83] Ficus Movies handled distribution of the film in its different languages in North America. The film was also screened at the 12th Mumbai International Film Festival, the 21st Bath Film Festival,[84] the 10th Tromsø International Film Festival,[85] and the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival where it won a special award under the section "Winds of Asia-Middle East".[86]

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

[[:File:Chitti Evil.jpg|thumb|left|Among other aspects of the film, reviews mainly noted Rajinikanth's portrayal of the antagonistic character of Chitti.]] Enthiran has received widespread critical acclaim in India. On the review-aggregation website ReviewGang, the film scored 7.0/10 based on 9 reviews.[87] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 4/5 stars and said "On the whole, ROBOT is a crowd-pleasing and hugely mass appealing tale of android revolution with a thrilling plot, rich and imaginative screenplay, super action, astounding effects and most importantly, Rajnikant, who is the soul of the film. It's the Big Daddy of all entertainers. Miss it at your own risk!"[88] Behindwoods gave the film 4/5 stars, highlighting the film's direction and visual effects. On Rajinikanth's performance as an antagonistic robot, the website claims that "no one other than Rajnikanth could have pulled off this character [...] exuding brilliance and charisma in every frame."[89] Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis wrote, "The film has the best special effects ever seen in an Indian film [...] Robot, simply put, is one of the most entertaining Indian films – across all languages –ever made" giving it 4 stars.[90] Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India rated it 4/5, calling it the perfect getaway film.[91] Bhama Devi Ravi of Times of India gave 4/5 stars noting "Who would have thought you would root for anyone other than Rajni in his film?"[92] Zee TV gave it 4 stars and noted "Rajnikanth, who enjoys demi-god status in India, has hit it big again. His latest film ‘Robot’ is a roller-costar ride, where you will see not one Rajni, but hundreds of them eating up helicopters, smashing cars, battering planet earth and creating havoc, like never before."[93] Krishnakumar Padmanabhan of Rediff reviewed the Hindi version saying "In the end, this movie is as much about special effects as it is about Rajni" giving it 4/5 stars.[94] Anupama Chopra of NDTV said that Rajinikanth makes Chitti endearing, while giving it 3.5/5 stars.[95] Vinayak Chakravorty of Mail Today gave it 3.5/5 stars and cheekily called the film "Rajnificent!".[citation needed] Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave the film 3.5/5 stars and said "All said and done, this is a Shankar film where he strikes the balance between science fiction and masala quotient. Whichever way you look at it, Endhiran is one of those rare films that give you just enough material to pull you in."[96] K. K. Rai from Stardust called the film "a good entertaining flick." and gave it 3.5 stars.[97] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN said "In the end, it's the fantastic special effects and an inspired performance from Rajnikant that keeps the film fresh" giving it 3/5.[98] Mayank Shekhar from Hindustan Times gave a rating of 3/5 and said "Leave aside jokes running on the Internet. This film, just a few feet too long, is fine entertainment by itself."[99] Bryan Durham from MiD DAY gave 3/5 and said "This movie deserves full marks simply for perfectly casting the ever-dependable Rajni and making the most of the VFX at its disposal. Take a bow, Shankar."[100] Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express gave 3 stars and quoted "If I had a choice, I would have headed off to Enthiran , wherein I could have experienced Rajinikanth the way he is meant to: in Tamil, surrounded by swooning devotees armed with camphor and coconuts."[101] Oneindia.in said "Endhiran guarantees super fun for the entire family and Rajinikanth re-establishes the fact that what no body can, only Rajini can!"[102] Kaveree Bamzai of India Today said "It's Happy Diwali, folks."[103] Karthik Subramanian from The Hindu said "Actors tend to get lost in special effects movies. But not so in Enthiran. Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan carry the movie on their shoulders, and considering the fact that much of the acting must have been in front of green screens, one has to say that nothing looks artificial right through."[104] Moviebuzz from Sify said "Shankar’s Enthiran-The Robot, will make you completely surrender to power of visual extravaganza and the technical finesse. His sci-fi dream project is groundbreaking, bigger but not better. Go for it for Rajinikanth, he is in rocking form. Taste the thunder."[105] Sanjukta Sharma from Mint said "The star of the new Rajinikanth flick is its director; and love’s a pain in a romcom about two depressed strangers. The acrobatics and gimmicks are all here—with superb production value and the kind of technology that have gone into making it, they look insanely cool.""[106] On the contrary, Gautaman Bhaskaran of Hindustan Times rated it 2/5, saying "Shankar’s work slips into a loud, overdramatic and exaggerated mess."[107]

The film also received good response from overseas. Lisa Tsering from The Hollywood Reporter said "Rajnikanth is such a badass that Chuck Norris is afraid of him. So goes the Internet lore of a 60-year-old South Indian screen icon so potent that fans build temples to him, women swoon and men just shrug and give up," further citing "The film's climactic battle scene drags, but that is a minor misstep. Writer-director S. Shankar has been working on getting this film made for the past decade, and he clearly is so thrilled to get "Robot" into theaters that his enthusiasm is infectious. Filmgoers with a taste for the absurd will be richly rewarded."[108] Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club stated "Before you go into Enthiran hoping for a something like an IndianCrank, nothing but high-octane action featuring K’nex-style robots, be warned: It isn’t that. It can be loosely defined as a science-fiction/action movie, yes, but it’s also an Indian movie made for Indian audiences, which means it gives over a lot—and I mean a lot—of time to the chaste romance between Rajinikanth and Rai, as well as many musical numbers."[109]

After a screening at the Mumbai International Film Festival, American film director Oliver Stone praised Enthiran as being very original. Likewise, Jon Landau, producer of Avatar (2009), termed Rajinikanth as amazing after viewing the film's trailer.[110] In a personal appreciation letter to S. Shankar following the film's release, K. Balachander described Shankar as India's James Cameron, Enthiran as India's Avatar, and Sun Pictures as India's MGM.[111] Frank Paiva of MSN Movies named Enthiran as the seventh best film of 2010.[112] On 13 December 2010, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) announced its top-205 films of the world during the year 2010 amongst which Enthiran was in the top 50, holding the 39th spot with a score of 7.4/10.[113] It is also the only Tamil film to be featured in this list.[114]

Box office[edit]

Ajay Vidyasagar, Chief Operating Officer of Sun TV Network maintained that Enthiran's revenue accounted for approximately 30 per cent of the total revenue for the company's fourth-quarter in 2010.[115] He also added that the film, produced on a budget of 132 crore (US$17 million) by Sun Pictures should have made a minimum of 375 crore (US$47 million) worldwide, with the company's share being 179 crore (US$22 million). By those accounts, it is the highest grossing Indian film of its time.[8][9][116] However, other credible sources put the earnings at less, from 250 crore (US$31 million)[117] to 255.5 crore (US$32 million),[79] while some sources place the figure even higher than 405 crore (US$51 million).[7][118] All of these figures would place Enthiran as the top grossing Tamil film, and somewhere in the top three grossing Indian films of all time. Since official box office records are not kept in India, all of these figures must be considered estimates, but by all accounts it was a big success. Following are the estimates broken down by time and region. Enthiran grossed 62 crore (US$7.8 million) from all versions in the first weekend,[119][120] and 117 crore (US$15 million) in the first week, thus becoming the first Indian film to cross this mark in a week.[121] The film netted 60 crore (US$7.5 million) in Tamil Nadu, 30 crore (US$3.8 million) in Andhra Pradesh, 20 crore (US$2.5 million) in Kerala[122] and 4 crore (US$500,000) in Karnataka.[121] In Chennai alone, Enthiran grossed a record 6.3 crore (US$790,000) in ten days.[123] During the first week, the film's Tamil and Telugu versions fared exceptionally well, while the business of the Hindi version (Robot) remained ordinary,[124] and did not make as much impact as Enthiran with around 11.3 crore (US$1.4 million) nett in the first week[125] and 5.9 crore (US$740,000) in the second week.[126] The film did a bit better at select single screens in Maharashtra but overall poor, especially in the regions of Delhi and Punjab.[127][128] In the first week, Robot netted 2.4 crore (US$300,000) in Mumbai and Thane from 107 screens, 96 lakh (US$120,000) in Delhi from 27 screens, and 56 lakh (US$70,000) in Ahmedabad from 28 screens. In the second weekend, Robot netted 3.2 crore (US$400,000).[129] The Telugu version Robo grossed 3.7 crore (US$460,000) as share in Nizam in three days[130][131][132] At the end of its screening, the film grossed 60 crore (US$7.5 million) from Telugu version.[133]

In Malaysia, Enthiran grossed $1 million in the first weekend from 80 screens[134][135] and $2.9 million in two weeks[136] thus ended up as all-time top five highest grossing Indian film in Malaysia.[137] In the United Arab Emirates, Enthiran grossed $301,000 in the first weekend while Robot grossed $86,000.[138] In the United Kingdom, Enthiran was released by Ayngaran International while Robot was released by B4U Network.[139] In the first weekend, Enthiran opened at 11th position in the United Kingdom collecting £295,148 from 30 screens while Robot opened at 21st position collecting £62,134 from 41 screens.[140] Enthiran had accumulated $785,837 by the second weekend from 34 screens in the United Kingdom.[141] Enthiran opened at 12th position in the United States in its opening weekend collecting $1,520,108 from 64 screens, while Robo debuted at 17th position in its opening weekend collecting $481,680 from 36 screens and Robot at 34th position in its opening weekend collecting $164,390 from 39 screens.[142][143][144] In Sri Lanka, the film lost its sheen at the box office as the audience found it "outlandish".[145][146] According to Eros International,Enthiran had grossed 61 crore (US$7.6 million) overseas—including 20 crore (US$2.5 million) in the United States, 8 crore (US$1.0 million) across Europe, 7 crore (US$880,000) in the Middle East, and 21 crore (US$2.6 million) in South East Asia.[147] The film is likely to be amongst the top five grossing Indian films in overseas markets.[148] In Singapore, the film grossed S$2.5 million from 22 screens.[149] Within months of the film's release, the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners' Association lodged a complaint against Sun Pictures stating that the company cheated them of 1.54 crore (US$190,000). The complaint also stated that they had incurred huge losses after screening the movie and many had demanded their deposits back.[150]

Accolades[edit]

Ceremony Award Category Nominee Outcome
2nd Edison Awards[151] Edison Award Best Film Kalanithi Maran Won
17th Star Screen Awards[152] Star Screen Award Best Special Effects V. Srinivas Mohan Won
Spectacular Cutting Edge Technology Won
58th National Film Awards[153] National Film Award Best Special Effects V. Srinivas Mohan Won
Best Art Direction Sabu Cyril Won
5th Vijay Awards[154] Vijay Award Best Villain Rajinikanth Won
Best Cinematographer R. Rathnavelu Won
Best Art Director Sabu Cyril Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Chinmayi Nominated
Best Choreographer Remo Fernandez Nominated
Best Choreographer Raju Sundaram Nominated
Best Stunt Director Peter Hein Nominated
Best Make Up Artistes Banu Won
Best Costume Designer Manish Malhotra Nominated
Best Find of the Year Remo Fernandez
Madhan Karky
Won
Favourite Film Kalanithi Maran Won
Favourite Hero Rajinikanth Won
Favourite Heroine Aishwarya Rai Nominated
Favourite Director S. Shankar Won
Favourite Song "Kilimanjaro" Nominated
12th International Indian Film Academy Awards[155] International Indian Film Academy Award Best Special Effects V. Srinivas Mohan Won
Best Art Direction Sabu Cyril Won
Best Make-up Artist Banu Won
58th Filmfare Awards South[156] Filmfare Award Best Film Kalanithi Maran Nominated
Best Director S. Shankar Nominated
Best Actor Rajinikanth Nominated
Best Music Director A. R. Rahman Nominated
Best Lyricist Vairamuthu for "Kadhal Anukkal" Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Chinmayi for "Kilimanjaro" Nominated
Best Cinematographer R. Rathnavelu Won
Best Art Director Sabu Cyril Won
Best Costume Designer Manish Malhotra Won
24th Tokyo International Film Festival[86] Tokyo International Film Festival Award Winds of Asia-Middle East
(Special Mention)
S. Shankar Won

Sequel[edit]

In March 2011, cinematographer R. Rathnavelu revealed that the crew was discussing the possibility of a sequel to Enthiran.[157] The sequel was being written by S. Shankar and is expected to retain the same team, including Kalanithi Maran, Rajinikanth, A. R. Rahman, and Rathnavelu himself.[158] V. Srinivas Mohan, the special effects supervisor of the film, confirmed this a couple months later.[159]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Enthiran: The Robot (Tamil)". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Rajini's Robo to hit Tollywood in October". Sify. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  3. ^ "Endhiran: The costliest film in India". India Today. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  4. ^ Bollywood sci-fi flick Endhiran storms box office channelnewsasia.com Retrieved 17 October 2010.
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External links[edit]