Why Deepika Padukone signed Rajnikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan?
While Deepika Padukone is looking forward to the release of RACE 2 and then YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, she would also be making her Tamil debut with none other than Rajnikanth in KOCHADAIYAAN which is expected to arrive on 1st April.
Though nothing is known yet about her role in the film, one wonders whether it was the sheer lure of being a part of Rajni cinema that made her say ‘yes’ or did she really find something overtly exciting as an actress as well?
“Can I be honest here? It is indeed a mix of both,” Deepika makes a confession here, “Frankly, it was Rajni Sir’s presence in the film that had a major role to play in my decision making. Also, since I am from South India, I had always wanted to work in a movie from the South industry.”
The fact remains though that before KOCHADAIYAAN, she was supposed to be a part of RANA, which has now been pushed to the backburner.
“It was like a deja vu situation for me when RANA came calling,” she smiles, “That’s because even before my Hindi debut in OM SHANTI OM, there were quite a few offers that had come my way but I had waited as I wanted nothing but the best for a start. Now it couldn’t have been better than Shahrukh Khan and Farah Khan coming together and launching me. Though RANA couldn’t happen, KOCHADAIYAAN with Rajni Sir is perfect. It couldn’t have been a better Tamil debut.”
We concur!
Kochadaiiyaan
Kochadaiiyaan (transl. The king with a long, curly mane) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language computer animated action film written by K. S. Ravikumar and directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin. It is India’s first photorealistic motion capture film, featuring characters whose designs were based on the appearance and likeness of their respective actors. Rajinikanth, also Soundarya’s father, enacted and voiced the two lead roles, and one surprise role in the film’s final act. Deepika Padukone and Malayalam actress Shobana performed the female leads, whilst Aadhi and Jackie Shroff performed supporting characters. In addition to performing, R. Sarathkumar, Nassar and Rukmini Vijayakumar had also voiced their respective characters. The narrative follows the quest of an 8th-century warrior who seeks revenge after witnessing the unlawful punishment administered to his father, a good-hearted warrior in his kingdom, by the jealous ruler.
Kochadaiiyaan film casting
For the female lead role, Trisha was initially approached, but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film. It was then rumoured that Asin and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress. Soundarya approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012, who was not able to clear her schedule for the film and the team reapproached Balan. Despite reports that Kaif was finalised, Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema. Padukone was paid a salary of ₹30 million (US$420,000) for shooting only for two days in the film. According to Soundarya, she was “quite relieved to not be wearing make-up for a film for the first time in her career.” Although reports of November 2012 suggested that Padukone would dub her own voice for the Tamil version, it was later announced that she would dub only for the Hindi version as the dialogues required authentic Tamil pronunciations. Hence, Savitha Reddy dubbed the voice for Padukone in the Tamil version. In January 2014, it was revealed that Mona Ghosh Shetty had dubbed Padukone’s voice for the Hindi version, because the actress was unavailable during the dubbing schedules. Shetty had earlier dubbed for Padukone’s debut in Om Shanti Om (2007).
The film began to increase its casting profile after Malayalam actor Prithviraj was rumoured to have been signed to play an important role in the film. The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam and Eeram, in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was “a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood”. Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role, with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011. She, however, opted-out a couple of months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar was signed in her place. R. Sarathkumar accepted Soundarya’s offer for an important role in the film while veteran actor Nassar was recruited in the film as well for a supporting role.
Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film. Soundarya confirmed that the former was added to the cast saying that she was the “only choice for the role” as the character was written keeping her in mind. Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film. Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was also approached for an antagonistic role. Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him. Reports claimed that the film would feature late actors like Nagesh, P. S. Veerappa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, and R. S. Manohar recreated through sophisticated animation techniques, although it was later revealed that only Nagesh was recreated for the film. According to Soundarya, “The biggest triumph for Kochadaiiyaan was bringing back late comedy actor Nagesh to the screen.”
Peter Hein was chosen as the film’s action choreographer, while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film’s background score and soundtrack. Soundarya chose Saroj Khan, Raju Sundaram, Chinni Prakash and his wife Surekha Chinni Prakash, and Sivashankar to choreograph the songs. Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan. She chose 42 students from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai for the task, besides 50 experienced persons from the Jacob College of Fine Arts. 60 concept artistes were already reportedly working for the film.
December 27 – by Joginder Tuteja, Glamsham Editorial
