Several delays and false hopes later, Shankar’s 2.0 will now release on November 29, tweeted the director late Tuesday evening.
Hi everyone.. atlast the vfx companies promised the final delivery date of the vfx shots. The movie will release on nov 29th 2018.#2Point0 pic.twitter.com/ArAuo5KxM7
— Shankar Shanmugham (@shankarshanmugh) July 10, 2018
Clearly, it was the VFX companies holding the release date up, even though the shooting of the film was reported to have ended late last year. 2.0 is the sequel to the 2010 hit Endhiran, and is reported to cost over a crazy Rs 400 crore to make. Tau Films, of Baahubali fame, have worked on the VFX and Lyca Productions are the producers.
This is Rajinikanth’s second film after he launched his political career in January this year; riding on the critical success of Kaala, this film will see him go back to the mass entertainers that he is worshipped for. Twenty-six-year-old British actor Amy Jackson, known for her work in Indian movies, will feature in the lead opposite the 67-year-old superstar, and Akshay Kumar will play the antagonist.
If you remember Endhiran, you’ll remember that Rajinikanth played a dual role — that of Chitti as well as his creator/scientist Dr Vaseegaran, much like Dr Frankenstein. 2.0 will see him reprise both those roles. Kumar, as the villain, on the other hand, looks pretty much straight out of a Hollywood fantasy film, what with the sharpened teeth and flyaway eyebrows.
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With a budget that kept growing (and if reports are to be believed, kept being funded), 2.0 currently enjoys the reputation of perhaps being the biggest, most expensive Indian film ever made at nearly USD 60 million. It would, however, be called a small-budget film in Hollywood. We can’t quite decide if it’s just tricks now, but about 40 seconds of some of the work on 2.0 were leaked online earlier this year, though it was deleted later. It piqued some fans’ interests but many condemned it saying it would ruin the experience when the film would finally release.
The announcement brought on congratulatory tweets from many of the industry. And now, we wait.