‘2.0’, a costly magnum opus of grandeur
INDIAN cinema has at last delivered a quality international film that can be compared with the best that glitzy Hollywood can offer.
2.0, the most expensive Indian movie, was produced at a phenomenal cost of over $75 million (R1 billion) by Lyca Productions headed by Sri Lankan businessman Alliraja Subaskaran and directed by Shankar.
With the cream of Kollywood and Hollywood technicians coming together,
2.0 is a quality movie that is engaging and rates highly in entertainment value. 2.0 has completely changed the face of Kollywood and Indian cinema. This is definitely for the better.
It deals with the merciless destruction of bird life through the unnecessary proliferation of cellphones and their signal towers. Due to unscrupulous cellphone companies increasing the cell frequency rate for better cell reception, this has resulted in the mass destruction of our feathered friends who suffer painful and horrible deaths.
As usual superstar Rajinikanth does not disappoint in the roles of Dr Vaseegaran and Robot Chitti. His trademark swagger and larger-than-life screen presence will make his fans feel quite elated with his all-round performance.
Bollwood star Akshay Kumar forays quite successfully into Kollywood by playing the role of an ornithologist professor and later as the most dreaded villain in 2.0. He wreaks havoc with everyone who deals with cellphones. The make-up department did a sterling job in transforming Kumar into a hated and merciless villain.
There can be no doubt that Kumar will feature in Kollywood soon.
British beauty queen turned successful Kollywood screen goddess Amy Jackson plays Nila, the human-like female robot. Jackson is a pleasure to behold on the screen. My only wish is that she learns Tamil fully to dub for herself in her movies.
On the technical front, 2.0 has AR Rahman composing the music, Nirav Shah as the director of photography and Anthony as the editor. Resul Pookutty is the sound designer, and the makers have used a special technology called SRL-4D sound. This stands for ShankarResul-Lyca 4D sound.
Sean Foot, who did the make-up for Avatar, was roped in for 2.0. Kenny Bates, who is famed for his action scenes in Transformers, has also worked for 2.0. John Hughes and Walt Jones handled the VFX Team, with their prior experiences for Percy Jackson, Life of Pi, and 300. Also, the costumes were designed by Ror Rodriguez, who is famous for his designs for TV series Daredevil and Supergirl.
2.0 is an end product of 25 VFX studios worldwide, 2 150 VFX shots, 1 000 complex VFX
2.0’ shots, 1 000 VFX artistes, 10 concept artists 25 3D designers, 500 craftsmen, 3 000 technicians and more.
Oh, and please do not leave the cinema auditorium when the end credits role as the movie still continues with a hit party song and a Kutti 3.0 robot who mentions that he is Vaseegaran’s grandson. Is there a 3.0 in the making, Shankar sir?
2.0 is a huge movie with a humongous budget that must be savoured and celebrated by all movie fans regardless of race, language or creed. This movie is history in the making… support it with your attendance in great numbers. 2.0 is showing at Cine Centre Sun Coast daily.
Lachimiah is an ex-presenter on Radio Phoenix and two other community radio stations. He is a seasoned MC and motivational speaker and has a deep interest in Kollywood movies and music.