The makers of superstar Rajinikanth's latest blockbuster Enthiran(Robot) are definitely under fire!
After a Tamil writer Aroor Tamilnadan aka Amudha Tamilnadan filed a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner, claiming that the original story of Enthiran was lifted right out of his short story 'Jughiba', veteran Telugu novelist Mynampati Bhaskar came forward with a similar claim, alleging that the movie is a direct lift from his novel 'Budhi Jeevi', published in 1984.
The Telugu author, who claimed that the makers have copied even the jokes and dialogues from his novel, has already sent a legal notice to producer Kalanidhi Maran of Sun Pictures, director Shankar and hero Rajinikanth. The latest buzz is that Mynampati is demanding a 'mere' Rs. 50 lakhs as compensation for his story (Tamilnadan is demanding double the amount -- one crore). However, industry critics state that these claims are for the sake of money and free publicity.
With the arrival of few new movies in Mollywood, the list of the Box Office's best has shown considerable differences from the previous weeks. And as expected the multi-starrer from Saji Surendran 'Four Friends' has opened to good initials to top the list.
1. Four friends - Though there are mixed opinions about the movie, it registered good initials in the first two days. This third movie from Saji Surendran has a very interesting cast composing of Jayaram, Jayasuriya, Boban Kunchakko, Meera Jasmine, Siddhique, Salimkumar, Ganesh Kumar and Suraj Venjarmoodu, which itself is the USP of the movie. Add to that the presence of universal star Kamal Haasan in a special cameo, it is not surprising for the movie with such a good pre-publicity to jump to the top spot from the day one. It remains to be seen how far this collections sustain in the case of 'Four Friends'.
2. Anwar - Though the interest in the movie is getting thinner, the stylish movie from Amal Neerad still registers good collections all across. The presence of Lal, Prakash Raj and Mamtha Mohandas, together with the sensitive topic and interesting visualisations add to list of the highlights of the movie which had a very good first two weeks, as far as the collections are concerned. 'Anwar' remains the second solo hit from Prithviraj after 'Puthiya Mugam' which came out last year.
3. Cocktail - Slowly emerging to the chart tops is 'Cocktail'- a low budget thriller from debutant director Arunkumar. The movie based on an English flick is wisely redone to suit the mood and interests of the desi audience. Featuring Anoop Menon, Jayasuriya and Samvrutha Sunil in the lead, ‘Cocktail’ is expected to become an earner even with a short run.
4. Endhiran - The Rajinikanth magic is still on. The magnum opus science fiction 'Endhiran' from Shankar is till ruling the theatres in majority of the centres, though the initial frenzy ness had died out. Now the movie remains the hot favourite of families and children.
5. Elsamma Enna Annkutty - This Lal Jose starer has ended up as the black horse among the Ramzan releases. The movie into its fifty days continues in 14 of its release centres with satisfactory collections. Also in theatres are Mohanlal's 'Shikaar', Mammootty's 'Pranchiyettan and the Saint' and Suresh Gopi's 'Sadgamaya', continuing with average collections.
Here is what many of you have been waiting for. The box office collections of Endhiran are out. And these are the figures for the first week collections! Endhiran, mainly the Tamil version, has grossed Rs. 35 crores from all its screens across Tamil Nadu. If the Hindi and Telugu rights were sold to Gemini Film Circuit for Rs. 20 crores and Rs. 30 crores respectively, Gemini has already retrieved the amount they had invested in Hindi. Robo, the Telugu version, has grossed approximately Rs. 16 crores. The scene in Karnataka is no less with Endhiran grossing Rs. 4.75 crores in the first week, in limited screens. Overall, Endhiran, Robot and Robo, has grossed a whopping Rs. 125 crores world-wide in the first week after release. Is it a record of all times? Let's wait and see.
The message is on the wall. Rajinikanth’s ‘Endhiran’ and ‘Robot’ have changed the dynamics in Bollywood. Shahruk Khan who feels for the missed opportunity to have done ‘Robot’ in place of Rajinikanth is holding closed door meetings to make his upcoming film ‘Ra.One’, a step above ‘Endhiran-The Robot’.
SRK has realized that the audience would be expecting from him some thing more than ‘Robot’ now. So he is burning some midnight oil to contemplate the differences he had to make with his film.
‘Ra.One’ is also a sci-fi super hero film. Lately, sources say, Shahruk Khan had called his creative team including the director Anubhav Sinha and sound engineer Resul Pookutty to his house and discussed the changes that need to be made so that ‘Ra.One’ comes very close to ‘Endhiran - The Robot’ in size and stature.
According to sources, the new film of SRK will now be a gaming movie while retaining the emotional quotients and the drama. They further say that the movie is being designed in such a way that the audience will be able to participate in the film and play the ‘Ra.One’ game at the climax. This kind of participatory film is a first of its kind, we guess.
All said and done what ever happens in the name of competitions it is all good for Indian cinema. If Indian cinema grows the ultimate beneficiaries are the audience. So we welcome this healthy competition. All the best SRK!
Whenever he does a big film in Tamil, the super star Rajinikanth screens special shows of the film to his friends in Bollywood. It last happened for ‘Sivaji’ and now the ‘Endhiran’s Hindi version ‘Robot’ is captivating the who’s who of Bollywood.
The super star was in Mumbai and he showed ‘Endhiran - the Robot’ to his friend, guide and philosopher Amitabh Bachchan and his other friends in Bollywood like Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Tabu, Urmila Matondkar, Shriya Saran, Hema Malini, Vrinda Rai, S. Shankar, Kiran Rao, Karan Johar, Sunny Deol, Yash Chopra and many other celebrities.
After watching the movie all the stars including the Big B was nothing but awe struck came back speech less.
Amitabh has said “I went to see the event of the season - ROBOT! Rajini had called yesterday from Chennai, was holding a show in Mumbai and as was his tradition wanted me to come over to see it along with other friends. And so we went and so we remained awe struck on what transpired and so we came back speechless on the experience. Aishwarya looked smashing and danced like she had never danced before. Rajini … what can one say for this man. He is just unbelievable. The film is a roller coaster ride of fun and ecstasy and events of mammoth proportions. Amitabh further said “An incredible experience it was. Rajini was incredible, Aishwarya was colorful and danced like a dream and content and delivery was simply extraordinary.”
The man perfect Aamir Khan said after the movie that he wanted to ‘eat his brain’ - Shankars that is - to know how Shankar managed the awesome film.
So the first real Indian International film has arrived.
‘Endhiran’ The Robot has truly rocked Bollywood. It is seen that the celebrities who had seen the film is clearly out of words to describe their awe.
Here are some initial reactions from the celebs who attended Rajini’s special premiere.
Amitabh Bachchan: Just back from 'Robot' and meeting up with Rajni at PVR Juhu ...what an experience. Incredible!! Whistles claps applause ..amazing. ROBOT a sensation all over. Rajini you are just unbelievable my friend ..many more accolades your way ..!
Abhishek Bachchan: Just finished seeing ROBOT!!! MINDBLOWING!!!! nothing else can be said...... DOT. (After many hours) Have a robot hangover!!!! (Later) Just tried to become a huge snake and eat some of the cars to beat the traffic!! Didn't go down too well!! Mr. Dentist here I come...
Preityzinta: Congratulations Ash :-) my super stunner & Jai Ho to ROBOT, Shankar & Rajinikanth! I love Rajini-Robo-Kant ! Two thumbs up!!
Manish Malhotra: Enjoyed robot even more the second time: guys it’s a must watch.
Trisha: Really happy 2 hear about Endhiran's box office reports n reviews. Way to go Rajini Sir. U will never cease to amaze. Congrats to the whole team. Its a proud moment for all of us actors who are part of South Indian cinema.
Madhavan: Ohhhh watching "Robot" with Rajini sir today... Yipeeeee Saw "Robot" "Endhiran".. Superb film.. Rajni sir was outstanding.. The visual effects was world class.
Shobhaa De: Rajini Sir is a phenomenon! 'Robot' rocks. And Aishwarya has never looked this smoulderingly sexy! Perhaps 60+ men do it for her? Whatever.
Riteish Deshmukh: SUPERSTAR RAJNI He is a phenomenon. Action in ROBOT is just what u want to watch as a Rajini FAN- GO WATCH IT NOW- bit long but worth it.
Shekharkapur:Kudo's 2 Shankar n Rajinikanth for ROBOT, Chitti d Robot is great character and beautifully played by Rajinikanth highly entertaining
Superstar Rajinikanth today said he is happy with the success of 'Endhiran' and would like to take a break and go on a holiday.
Talking to journalists in Mumbai, where the top actor arrived on Monday for a special screening of 'Robot', the Hindi version of 'Endhiran', he said, "I am very happy that the film has been liked by audiences."
According to sources, big guns of Bollywood including Amitabh Bachchan and Dev Anand among others will watch 'Robot' at an up-market Mumbai theatre later today.
For the first time in the history of US Box Office, a non english film Endhiran, which stars rajinikanth, who enjoys a demi-god status among 100 million tamil people, has got the 2nd place(No.2 film) in the entire USA on 30th Septemeber.
According to a hollywood media, which reported this news couple of days ago, this feat was achieved by Endhiran(The Tamil version) on the Thursday the 30th Septemeber 2010 and as per the trend Endhiran will hit the No.1 spot at the US box office on Friday.
As per Rentrak, the audience measurement company in USA, it turned out to be the No.2 film in the entire USA on 30th Septemeber with the Hollywood flick “ Social Network” taking in the No.1 position.
In USA there is a trend of premiering a movie one day ahead of the actual release of the fim and it is called "Paid Previews". Endhiran achieved this feat only in Paid Previews. We have to wait couple of days before the actual position of "Endhiran" in US Box office to come out.
Though no major hollywood flick of any major hollywood stars released this friday, for a indian/tamil film it is an Unrivaled and Unparalleled feat says the critics.
It seems there is no boundary for Rajini magic and it works every where despite the language barriers.
HAHAAHA Thats meee!!!! LOL! :D Just, so you know I do not think Im Ash, just made it for fun! :D :P You can make yours here : http://apps.facebook.com/igavatar/
There are Rajini ones for guys. But, make sure you have a Facebook account!
The Title explains it ALL, but I wanted to review the AWESOME movie after watching it, so here it is :D.
Story(Only some)- Vaseegaran(RAJINIKANTH) builds a robot named Chitti(RAJINIKANTH), he has worked hard on it for 10 years. It knows EVERYTHING in this world, EXCEPT emotions. But, when it has to be taught emotions, under circumstances, Chitti himself changes. Thats it! Now Watch the movie ! GO!!
Okay, firstly the credit goes to Director Shankar, for making such a mesmerizing , memorable movie. :) This will be THE movie, and is the movie that will and has changed Indian standards. I really hope that people will, follow in Shankars foot steps, yet have there own zest. :) He is and, has always been ahead of our time frame, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Its very cool to know that he had this idea TEN years ago(hint-hint). And then Its The ENTIRE CREW, I really don't know each and every person though, but with out them this movie is sort of nothing!
Rajinikanth- (SUPERSTAR) The name says it ALL! :D Man, this dude was insanely breath-taking. Its stunning to watch, how fast and right he changes his body language from a Scientist to a Robot. Man!, even though he is 60, he can STILL dance!!! Awesome in Arima Arima ,Irumbile Oru Idhayam and of course the Chitti dance showcase. The way he says the dialogues, is incredible! especially the robot ones :D It was AWESOME to see A MILLION Rajinikanths at once! A very different experience :D ) He was great as Vaseegaran and Chitti :) There is something different about, he has charisma that doesn't change no matter what his age is.I must say again, he is the Superstar of Cinema AND Mankind. :
Aishwarya Rai(Sana)- Finally we see Rajinikanth and Ash together, for the first time! After, soo many date problems! Phew! Good acting done by her part too. :) They both make a great jodi(pair) :). Yes, they do, even if Rajini is 60, and she is 36 :) In the beginning of the movie, she looked old for some reason.? But, then she looked gorgeous! :D I liked how they didn't make her over expose :), she was just right and pretty. Dang!, she has awesome dancing skills!!! In Chitti dance showcase, and Irumbile Oru Idhyam she rocked ! Especailly in Irumbile Oru Idhyam, she did awesome Robotic dance movies :D. AND, yes she has a very IMPORTANT role in the story, she is not just there to run around trees and expose. :P no kidding. Her costumes were exquisite, sooo pretty :D. She made them prettier :D
PudhiyaManidha- They show the building of the robot, Chitti, and teaching, or should I say programing a bunch of things into him.
KadhalAnnukal- Was shot in a sandy place. Sorry, don't know the exact location.I think sand got into Ash's eyes, cause her eyes were red during the song. Its very scientificy :D
BoomBoomRoboDa- Just how Ash and Rajini spend time with Chitti. :) Its so sweet :D, its when you, as an audience, start to develop feelings for Chitti. :)
ChittiDanceShowcase- Its when you see Rajini and Ash doing AMAZING , and MIND BLOWING dance movies, thanks to the choreographers :)
Killimanjaro-Its a very tribal song, so tribally costumes and tribally dance moves, but good and fast ones. It was shot in a Tribal environment, at Machu Picchu in Peru.
IrumbileOruIdhyam- The song when Chitti develops feeling for Ash. Also, my second favorite song. :) The dance moves , were like WOAH! Very robotic, so they were cooooollllll.! Great job done by Ash and Rajini. The background was very techno. :D
Arima Arima- This is my most favorite song! :D Song where "Chitti" and Ash appear, in a kingdom like setting,which is again very techno. This is the song where you see more than 100 Rajini's at once! :D cooolllll right? :D
The BGM of Arima Arima, is what I really want right now, it was playing I think in the last 30 minutes. Its also in the official trailer, towards the end. I liked how it was dramatic :) :) The BGM was as great as the songs, it was smooth and didn't interfere with the dialogues, or scenes, it was perfect :)
My Experience: My face was like this the whole time: :O ! No kidding! The last 1hr-30 minutes was MIND BLOWING!! WOW!!!! Shankar makes me very proud! I was so happy to see Ash back in a straight Tamil film. :) Though Raavanan was sort of a straight Tamil film, it didn't seem like it. Loved Rajini in the film and Always will love him :D The only reason that I learned Tamil is to watch his movies :D( but I watch others too). I have been on Endhiran Hangover ever since I have seen the movie. :D Shankar has taken Indian Cinema to higher standards, and I am proud our Superstar was part of it :D I'm not gonna spoil the review by saying my fav scenes :) I will post them in maybe two months :) Now, I think Bollywood Officially sucks DOT May I say again? RAJINIKANTH ROCKS!!!!!! :D :D !!!!!!
Dub: Also, was dubbed into Hindi as Robot and Telugu as Robo.
Piracy: Please Do not do Piracy, I mean its Thalaiva guys! Its RAJINIKANTH! Cut him some slack ok? At least stop it for him! He is an amazing and a great person, so don't hurt him by doing Piracy!! PLEASE! JUST STOP IT!
Bottom Line(s)- Do not give a Robot feelings. Watch it or you will regret!
NOW GO WATCH IT! THE TAMIL AND HINDI VERSIONS HAVE SUBTITLES SO YOUR GOOD! :)
Now this is the power of Shankar AND Rajinikanth!!!! :D makes me proud! :D :
The 'Endhiran' enthusiasm is visibly taking over USA. And that’s more than the crazy record breaking advance booking the film saw a few days ago. It’s more than that.
Damon Lindelof, the popular co-creator and executive producer for the television series 'Lost', is coming to India. And for what you know?
The famous writer has tweeted "Hello. I am on a plane to India. Why, you ask? Oh... it MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS!!!!," giving a link to the trailer of 'Endhiran' on the web.
While Lindelof has said his visit to India may have some thing to do with ‘Endhiran’, some sources say he may also double up the visit for discussing a huge budget film directed by Shankar and produced by Sun Pictures.
After unveiling ‘Endhiran’ it was everybody’s view that Sun Pictures is capable doing a Hollywood film by itself. Whatever it may be so. Hollywood and Damon Lindelof just could not resist ‘Endhiran’. Another first for Super Star.
The super star film ‘Endhiran’ has put Kannada film industry in affix over the number of theaters to be allotted for the mega film.
While all the nitty-gritty in the release of ‘Endhiran’ is being finalised to perfection around the world, the Karnataka film industry is yet undecided on a few things. The Karnataka rights for ‘Endhiran’ have been sold to three distributors at a collective price of Rs. 8.50 crores which is the total business made by an original Kannada block buster film.
Considering the huge cost and the anticipation of the masses over the film the three distributors of ‘Endhiran’ have requested the Karnataka Film Chamber to allow screening ‘Endhiran’ in more than 24 screens in all languages.
Karnataka Film Chamber had earlier passed a dictate restricting a film not to be allowed in more than 24 screens at a time. When ‘Raavanan’ was released earlier the same issue was discussed. The producers of ‘Raavanan’ argued it is a three language film and so each language should be allotted 24 screens each.
The ‘Endhiran’ distributors are demanding more than 60 screens for Tamil and Telugu versions. Meanwhile the Hindi version ‘Robot’ may also land up in the hands of the same people with an additional payment of Rs. 1.5 crores.
Rajinikanth’s earlier super hit ‘Sivaji’ was sold for Rs.2.5 crores to HD Gangaraju former KFCC President for Karnataka. When compared the price for ‘Endhiran’ is almost four times of ‘Sivaji’. So the distributors are in talks with theatre owners to increase the ticket rate across the state.
By initial estimates a Rs.75 ticket in Bangalore may go up to Rs.200 it is reliably learnt. The highest Gold Class in PVR Multiplex that costs Rs.500 in normal cases would go up to Rs.3000 according to sources.
Tell us where in the world ‘Endhiran’ has not created the ripples before the release.
The advance booking for ‘Endhiran’ opened at 9am this morning. But the fans were ready as early as 3am queuing up in front of the theatres.
The avant-garde obsession of Rajini fans for ‘Endhiran’ was on display today at the Udhayam Theatre in Ashok Nagar, Chennai today. The crowd was swelling right from the wee hours. People from all types and walks stood firm to get their tickets on that first day.
Hot sun did not deter, the sweating crowd did not dissuade. The long wait was seen as a self-test to their resilience power.
When the gates opened at 9am there were celebrations already. Leaving all known inhibitions behind Rajini fans ran, jumped, rolled over and tried all acrobatic acts to reach the box office first. They all had only one thing in mind – to watch ‘Endhiran’ first day first show.
One Rajini fan exclaimed “Diwali is for others, for us only Robowali this year”. One woman who had come with her son after packing her husband to office said she had been at the venue from 8am so that she could watch Rajini on the first day.
When the counter opened whistles and hoots rent the air marking bigger things to come on October 1. It’s time the Guinness Awards must look for a living actor in the world who has more manic fan following than the super star Rajinikanth.
Here is one thing to sum up what Rajini is to his fans. One young fan who got married only this year says for him “thala diwali is not the first diwali after his marriage but it is the first release of a Rajini film after his marriage”. Can anybody beat it?
It’s a longtime buzz that Shankar, who is eagerly waiting for the release of ‘Enthiran’, will start working on the Tamil and Telugu remakes of ‘3 Idiots’ once the Superstar Rajinikanth starrer hit the screens.
When Shankar was approached to confirm the news, he said that he was in talks for the project. “I can’t speak anything about the project since I am too busy with the release of Enthiran,” he said.
“Only after ‘Enthiran’ sees the light of the day (October 1), I can speak about my next project. All my attention is now on ‘Enthiran’ and I am thrilled to know the response it would evoke,” Shankar added.
Meanwhile, plans for ‘Enthiran’, produced by Sun Pictures, are open from today at cinema halls all over Tamil Nadu. As Rajini fans are expected to storm theatres to book tickets, wide arrangements have been made.
The wait is over. It is officially announced today that the biggest Indian movie of the year ‘Endhiran’ will hit the theatres world wide on October 1. ‘Endhiran- The Robot’ is releasing in India, USA, UK, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore& Australia on October 1 in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages.
The magnum opus has been the talk of the town for many weeks and will remain for many weeks to come. The music of ‘Endhiran’ has already captured the imagination of the film buffs all over and it’s top position on iTunes came as a pinnacle.
The stars of 2010 are going to be Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The director of the year is going to be Shankar. The banner of the year is going to be Sun Pictures.
With over 2000 prints around the world and over 600 shows per day around Chennai theatres alone things can't get better than this.
Fasten your seat belts and get ready for the experience.
The trailer of Endhiran was released at the Sathyam Cinemas today (September 11th, 2010) amidst much expectations. It was released jointly by the film’s producer Kalanidhi Maran, actor Rajnikanth and director Shankar.
Those who made it to this event were the Nadigar Sangam president Sarath Kumar, sound engineer Rasool Pokutty, directors Bhagyaraj, Dharani, K S Ravikumar, Parthiban, Hari, Lingusamy, Sundar C, Cheran, actors Arya, Vivek, Lawrence, Karan, Arun Vijay, Sibiraj, Nakulan, Krishna, Tamil Film Producers Council president Rama Narayanan, FEFSI chief VC Guhanathan, Film Distributors Association president Kalaipuli G Sekaran, Theatre owners Abirami Ramanthan, and DMK functionary and producer Anbhazhagan.
Rajnikanth's wife Latha, daughters Aishwarya Dhanush, Soundarya Ashwin, son-in-laws Ashwin and Dhanush, director Kiccha, producer TG Thyagarajan, Editor Mohan, Amma Creations Siva, Ayyappan, Sivasri Srinivasan, cinematographer Rathnavelu and art director Sabu Cyril were also present.
