No Indian science fiction property has burned through more stars, studios and false starts than Shankar's robot saga. When Enthiran finally arrived in 2010, it rewrote the box office; when 2.0 followed in 2018, it rewrote the budget.
Enthiran, released worldwide on 1 October 2010, is a Tamil-language science fiction action film co-written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. Rajinikanth plays a dual lead role: Vaseegaran, a scientist, and Chitti, the sophisticated android he builds for eventual commissioning into the Indian Army. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Danny Denzongpa headline the supporting cast, A. R. Rahman composed the score, and Sabu Cyril served as art director. The plot turns when Chitti is upgraded to feel human emotions, falls in love with Vaseegaran's girlfriend Sana, and is manipulated by the scientist's mentor Bohra into homicide.
The film's development history is a saga in itself, stretching nearly a decade. In 1996, after the release of Indian, Shankar pitched three storylines to Rajinikanth, scripts that would later become Sivaji: The Boss, Enthiran and I, and the star declined all three at the time. In 2001 Shankar announced the project as Robot with Kamal Haasan and Preity Zinta attached, but it was shelved over scheduling conflicts with Haasan. In 2007 he approached Shah Rukh Khan, who was set to produce it under Red Chillies Entertainment with Priyanka Chopra as the lead, before that version too collapsed over creative differences.
The project was revived in January 2008, renamed Enthiran to qualify for Tamil Nadu's tax exemption for Tamil-titled films, and eventually landed at Sun Pictures after earlier backers withdrew. Rajinikanth accepted the lead role in January 2008 for a reported salary of 450 million rupees, and Shankar rewrote the script around his star's style. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who had been Shankar's original choice back in 2001, finally came aboard. Dialogue writer Sujatha began the work, and lyricist-scholar Madhan Karky took over after Sujatha's death in February 2008.
Technically, Enthiran imported Hollywood-grade craft into Indian production. The film marked the Indian cinema debut of Legacy Effects, the American studio that handled its prosthetic make-up and animatronics, while V. Srinivas Mohan supervised the visual effects after joining in December 2007. Cinematographer R. Rathnavelu even prepared a 1,600-page manual listing possible angles for filming the two characters Rajinikanth played. Principal photography began in 2008 and lasted two years.
Made on an estimated budget of 132 to 150 crore rupees, Enthiran was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release. It grossed an estimated 283 to 320 crore rupees and finished as the highest-grossing Indian film of 2010. Critics praised Shankar's direction, Rajinikanth's performance as Chitti, the music, the action and the visual effects. The film won two National Film Awards along with a stack of southern industry honours.
The sequel, 2.0, released at the end of November 2018, escalated everything. Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah under Lyca Productions on an estimated budget of 400 to 600 crore rupees, it became the first Indian film natively shot in 3D, with cinematographer Nirav Shah behind the stereo rig and Legacy Effects returning for animatronics. Rajinikanth played a triple role while Akshay Kumar made his Tamil debut as Pakshi Rajan, a wronged ornithologist reborn as a vengeful force controlling the country's mobile phones.
2.0 grossed an estimated 699 to 800 crore rupees, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of 2018 and the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time, and the first Tamil film to cross 100 million US dollars worldwide. Reviews were more mixed than for its predecessor, and scientists publicly challenged the film's premise about cellphone radiation killing birds. Yet the pair of films proved something structural: that Indian sci-fi spectacle could be engineered at home, at global scale, around a single superstar. Every big-budget machine India has built since owes a bolt or two to Chitti.
Compiled from public records and box office archives.
