Some Chinese action for Rajni

Famed stunt  coordinator Woo-ping Yuen will be  directing superstar  Rajnikanth, reports Prithwish Ganguly

South superstar Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer Endhiran, which was previously titled Robot, has roped in acclaimed Chinese stunt coordinator Woo-ping Yuen to supervise the action stunts of the film.

Sixty-three-year-old Yuen, also an actor and director, has been instrumental in creating some of the most memorable action stunts in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that had Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill films, The Matrix series starring Keanu Reeves and The Forbidden Kingdom, which had Jet Li and Jackie Chan in it.

Directed by S Shankar, Endhiran is based on the work of the late writer Sujatha’s novels En Iniya Iyanthira and Jeeno Shankar, who has previously directed Rajnikanth in Sivaji: The Boss. The film has a mammoth budget of rupees 140 crore for Endhiran making it the most expensive film to be made in India to date.

“Endhiran will have very slick action sequences and Shankar wanted to have someone who is very big to create some never seen before stunts. Yuen is a master of stunts,” says an insider.

The source adds, “With Yuen looking after the stunts himself, be rest assured that you will get to see some action that defy gravity and reason. There may be some on-air stunts too. Rajnikanth is super excited that he will get to do all this. Yuen might also mix some martial arts in the action sequences.”

The shooting of Endhiran, shooting has already begun in the exotic locales of Peru, is
expected to release on April  14, 2010.

Courtesy: dnaindia.com

Know who is involved in Endhiran (Robot)! - Press release

With Superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan in lead roles, Endhiran is all set to start rolling from September 8th in the US. The production houses, which are involved into this grand venture, are Ayngaran International Films Pvt Ltd., and Eros International.

Two fantastic numbers that is set to tune by A. R. Rahman is about to be shot in some of the beautiful locations in America. While R. Ratnavelu will wield the camera, Sabu Cyril has been entrusted with the art department. Lyrics have been penned by Vairamuthu and Pa. Vijay. Raju Sundaram is the choreographer. Editing will be done by Anthony. Ace designer Manish Malhotra is in charge of costume designing. But the designing of scientific outfits is done by Mary E Vogt of Men in Black, Batman Returns and Inspector Gadget fame, Animatronics is by Stan Winston Studio (USA), who has some prestigious projects to their credit including Predator, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Iron Man, Terminator etc. Yuen Woo Ping who handled stunt for many Hollywood movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Matrix and Kill Bill has been roped in for Endhiran (THE ROBOT). This is probably the first time that renowned technicians from across the globe are being roped in for an Indian film. Hollywood companies like ILM, Tippet, Café EFX; and Hong Kong companies like Centro and Menfond will work in the field of VFX. Visual Effects and Animatronics co-ordination will be done by Indian Artiste. Producers of this venture are: K. Karunamurthi / C. Arunpandian. Executive Producer: K. Vijayakumar.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Rajini ala Matrix!

After the stupendous success of Sivaji, the Shankar–Rajini duo is back in action with their next project Robot. This Shankar’s brainchild was initially offered to Kamal Haasan and then to Shah Rukh Khan before it finally reached the superstar.

With the shooting of Robot all set to commence on May 10, 2008, the frenzy is bound to get bigger and bigger with every passing day. And

even this time, as like his previous films, director Shankar will adhere strictly to his working style, which is 15-days shooting and 15-days discussion a month.

Another interesting piece of news is that the stunt master of the famous Hollywood film, Matrix, Yuen Woo-Ping has been roped in to direct the fight sequences in Robot. And naturally he has bagged the offer for a huge sum. Reckon how much? It is nothing less than Rs. 8 crores. But then, grandiose, thy name is Shankar right?

Courtesy: Behindwoods.com

Shahrukh challenging Rajinikanth?

For some time now, Shahrukh Khan has been thinking of coming up with a grand scale special effects movie. Enter Shankar: who approaches him for Robot, his sci-fi epic. But after a few creative differences, the duo part.

Shankar moves on, making his big project even bigger by roping in Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai, with the largest budget Indian cinema has conceived of so far.

Now, Shahrukh responds by announcing that his Red Chillies banner plans to make the most expensive film in India with a budget of $25 million. Was SRK provoked/inspired by Shankar’s grand ambition?

While at the Berlin Film Festival, Shahrukh recently spoke to the legendary Hollywood trade magazine, Variety: "We are dedicating the next eight or nine months to taking the best technicians from around the world and asking them to help us make the best VFX film India has ever made. It will be madcap, over the top. I want it to be as beautiful as 'Spider-Man' in terms of effects,"

The film is yet to be titled but we roughly know the plot: what happens when a bunch of children have all their wishes come true. Are wishes that come true always a good thing, or actually a nightmare disguised as a dream? The director of movies like Cash and Dus – Anubhav Sinha – will helm this mega project. What will excite VFX buffs is that Charles Darby, the man responsible for some of the special effects in Minority Report and The Matrix has been roped in. Apparently he has set up a VFX studio in Mumbai.

It will indeed be interesting to see what Shankar’s response will be. An even more grandly scaled movie than what SRK has in mind? After all, isn’t Shankar one of India’s initial special effects movie wizards?

Such healthy professional rivalry will only help in the betterment of Indian cinema.

Courtesy: Behindwoods.com