The buzz around superstar Rajinikanth’s Robot 2 (Endhiran 2 in Tamil) is getting bigger by the day. Last week Rajinikanth, accompanied by his daughter Aishwarya Dhanush, was in Los Angeles for the pre-production of the film. Sources say that a special makeup test and a body scan were done for him.
Weta Workshop, the team that designed different looks for Vikram in his movie I, will be in charge of Rajini’s look in Robot 2. The film’s director Shankar has already done a makeup test for the Rajinikant's body double as well.
Arnold Schwarzenegger had been approached to play the villain in the film, but things are yet to be firmed up as the Hollywood action hero was demanding US $20 million (around Rs 120 Cr) to do the film. Robot 2 is being bankrolled by the London based Lyca Production, owned billionaire
Subaskaran Allirajah.
Though there has been no official word about the budget of the film, it is rumoured to be India’s costliest film. Industry estimates hover between Rs 250 to Rs 300 Crore.
The only condition that Shankar had when he was in discussion for Robot 2 with producers was that he cannot make it for less than Rs 250 Crore. The film will take more than a year to make due to the time needed for post-production.
As per sources, Amy Jackson will be one of the two heroines in the film. The film will have music by the Shankar-regular AR Rahman, and Nirav Shah will be the cinematographer. The highly acclaimed VFX supervisor for Baahubali, Srinivas Mohan, has taken over as the VFX specialist.
Meanwhile, After his LA trip, Rajinikanth is getting ready for the next schedule of Kabali directed by Pa.Ranjith in Goa. Recently, he spent almost a month shooting for the film in Malaysia and Bangkok. It will be the superstar’s next release in the summer of 2016.
The shoot for Robot 2 will commence only by the middle of next year. The grapevine is abuzz that a special inaugural pooja and a formal announcement of Robot 2 is likely to take place on Rajinikanth’s 65th birthday – December 12.