2.0 (film)
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''2.0'' is a 2018 Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
-language
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
directed by
S. Shankar Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963), credited as S. Shankar or his mononym Shankar, is an Indian filmmaker who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is one of the most prolific and highest paid film directors in India. His films typicall ...
who co-wrote the film with B. Jeyamohan and Madhan Karky. Produced by Subaskaran under the banner of
Lyca Productions Lyca Productions is an Indian entertainment company, which was established by Subaskaran Allirajah in 2014. A subgroup of Lycamobile, the production studio has been involved in the production and distribution of Tamil films made in India. It h ...
. As the second instalment in the ''Enthiran'' franchise, ''2.0'' is a standalone sequel to ''
Enthiran ''Enthiran'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by S. Shankar. It is the first instalment in the ''Enthiran'' franchise. The film stars Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with Danny ...
'' (2010), featuring Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Vaseegaran and Chitti the Robot, alongside
Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...
as Pakshi Rajan and
Amy Jackson Amy Louise Jackson (born 31 January 1992) is a British actress and model known for her work in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu languages. A former Miss Teen World, Jackson has appeared in over fifteen films. She made he ...
as Nila. also
Sudhanshu Pandey Sudhanshu Pandey is an Indian singer, film and television actor best known for portraying Vanraj Shah in '' Anupamaa'' and '' Anupama: Namaste America''. Career Sudhanshu Pandey was first reported in the media for being a part of India’s firs ...
,
Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...
,
Kalabhavan Shajohn Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 1 ...
, and K. Ganesh appear in supporting roles. The soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Madhan Karky and Na. Muthukumar. The film follows the conflict between Chitti, the once dismantled
humanoid robot A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other pu ...
, and Pakshi Rajan, a former ornithologist who seeks vengeance upon cell phone users to prevent avian population decline. 2.0 was Produced on an estimated budget of to 540600 crore, ''2.0'' was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release. Production began in 2015, with
principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
conducted at AVM Studios later that year. The first schedule was filmed at EVP World. Scenes were primarily shot in India, particularly in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
's
Madras Boat Club The Madras Boat Club is one of the oldest rowing centres in India, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The area adjoining it is the most expensive locality in South India. Background A small group of Englishmen in Madras (now called Chennai) found ...
and
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Filming was completed by August 2017. The film is the first in
Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...
to be natively shot in 3D, which was done by cinematographer
Nirav Shah Nirav Shah (born 16 November 1974) is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film '' Paisa Vasool''. Career After having worked as an ...
. The film was primarily shot in Tamil while
Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...
and some actors' dialogues were shot in Hindi. Legacy Effects made their return to construct prosthetic makeup and animatronics, with
visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
supervised by V. Srinivas Mohan. Editing was handled by
Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...
and production design was conducted by T. Muthuraj. ''2.0'' was released worldwide in both 3D and conventional format on 29 November 2018, along with its
Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
and Telugu dubbed version. It received mostly positive reviews, with praise directed towards the film's storyline, direction, performances of Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, visual effects, action sequences, soundtrack and social message, although the screenplay received some criticism. The movie earned worldwide on its first day, which was the fourth-highest ever for an Indian film. The film crossed in its opening weekend to be the highest-grossing film worldwide for that week and the worldwide collection was around ₹800 crore after end of four weeks . ''2.0'' is the sixth highest-grossing film in India and is the eighth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide.


Plot

Sometime after the first film, Dr. Vaseegaran builds an android humanoid assistant named Nila, short for "Nice, Intelligent, Loving Assistant" after 8 years and introduces her to a group of college students. He tells them what she can do and remincises about Chitti, his previous creation which was dismantled after an error Nila was built in response to. Shortly after, all the mobile phones in the city fly into the sky, throwing the public into a panic. A council assembles to discuss the phenomenon, in which Vaseegaran suggests reactivating Chitti. However, the plan is opposed by a member of the council, Dhinendra Bohra, whose father was killed by Chitti a few years back. But after the cell phones were gathered and kill three people from the industry: businessman Manoj Lulla, telecom minister Vairamurthy and cellphone showroom owner Jayanth Kumar, the now terrified Home Minister S. Vijay Kumar gives Vaseegaran permission to reactivate Chitti. Druing a city battle against a giant bird made of phones, a newly activied and upgraded Chitti runs out of battery and recharges between three antennas at a space station. The swarm tries to follow but is repelled by the antennas. Chitti informs Vaseegaran about this incident and confirms that the phones are powered by an aura, specifically a concentrated mass of negative charge with electromagnetic properties. Since the space station was streaming positive charged ions into space, the swarm was repelled. Vaseegaran builds a photon synthesizer that projects positive charge to neutralise the charge of the bird. When defeated, the phones take up a humanoid form, as the deceased ornithologist Pakshi Rajan. Chitti converses with Pakshi as he attempts to destroy the synthesizer, in which a flashback reveals that Pakshi protested against the usage of modern mobile phones, radiation from which caused mass deaths of birds, especially near his bird sanctuary and home in Thirukazhukundram. Pakshi tries to draw the attention of the public, but his protests are dismissed by the public who mock him. Birds all over the city including Pakshi's sanctuary die out, including newborn chicks. Even a court investigation appears to have found no violations because of manipulation by the telecom companies, which drives him to suicide by hanging in a cell tower. Pakshi's negatively charged spirit reawakens by the radiation emitting from the tower. By absorbing the souls of the dead birds, he becomes a vengeful entity, promising to avenge the birds' deaths and change people's attitude towards birds and the environment. Chitti emphatizes with Pakshi, but tries to convince him not to hurt the public, as not everyone is causing birds to die, but Pakshi denies this and states no one is innocent, and states that he wishes to punish their ignorance. Left with no choice, Chitti has Pakshi captured and contained after much effort. Vaseegaran is congratulated by the country, and the news spreads to the council which decides to build an army of robots such as Chitti for the military. However, Dhinendra, angered by Chitti's victory, releases Pakshi's spirit from the synthesizer vehicle. Pakshi, now free and wanting to continue his mission goes straight to Vaseegaran's house, and possesses him and attacks the public again. Chitti and Nila arrive to see chaos everywhere and Chitti goes to confront Vaseegaran, only to realise Pakshi has taken over his body. Chitti hesitates to attack Pakshi, as it would result in Vaseegaran dying as well, since his body is occupied by Pakshi. He even stops the military from killing Pakshi. Taking advantage of Chitti's respect towards Vaseegaran, Pakshi taunts and dismantles its. Vaseegaran gives Nila an idea by writing something on the scrap of a car, but it remains unclear as Pakshi flies off. Nila goes to check the message, and sees '2.0' written on it. Immediately, Nila goes to Vaseegaran's lab and reprograms Chitti to its 2.0 alter ego, previously seen 8 years ago, and alters it to not harm the public and only to fight Pakshi. Pakshi, now in Vaseegaran's form, goes to a football stadium with 80,000 people and traps them in it, while killing Dhinendra, who was present, by focusing radiation from multiple cell towers and incinerating him alive, despite the fact that he freed him. Chitti arrives with a robot army and confronts Pakshi. Pakshi tries to taunt him by using Vaseegaran, but Chitti doesn't care this time, as this version of it hated Vaseegaran, and fights Pakshi's bird form; eventually they assume giant forms and fight. Initially, Chitti gains the upper hand but Pakshi hits Chitti in its chest, where his CPU is, and throws him. Chitti runs out of charge and Pakshi turns into his winged form and creates several bird drones. The drones tear Chitti's fellow robots into pieces, but before Pakshi can summon radiation and continue his plan, he gets interrupted by an action figure sized robot "Kutti 3.0", who was made by Chitti. Released into the stadium by Nila, the Kutti bots mount themselves on doves and threaten to fly them into Pakshi's radiation beam, forcing Pakshi to stand down til the Kuttis self-destruct and destroy Pakshi's drones. After Vaseegaran is released from Pakshi's possession, Pakshi is led to the space station where it is destroyed. Vaseegaran recovers in the hospital and tells Vijay Kumar that he feels Pakshi was a virtuous person who became a victim of the corrupt society. He suggests they reduce and control cell phone radiation to ensure that technology does not threaten living beings. Vijay Kumar promises to get this passed in the next Parliament hearing. Chitti, now restored to its original version, begins a relationship with Nila as they and the other robots go to report at the Delhi headquarters. In a
post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...
, Sana asks Vaseegaran over the phone about the odds of mobile phones flying again. Immediately, Vaseegaran's mobile flies out of his hand and morphs into Kutti 3.0, saying, "I am your grandson".


Cast

* Rajinikanth in triple roles as **Dr. Vaseegaran, a
robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrate ...
scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...
who created a sophisticated humanoid in his likeness with a desire to commission it into the Indian Army. He introduced the robot as Chitti. ** Chitti, an advanced "andro-humanoid" robot. It was designed with a speed capacity of 1 Terahertz (Hz) and a memory capacity of 1 Zettabyte. He is seen in the franchise as the 1.0 version and the 2.0 version. **Chitti 3.0, a.k.a. Kutti a microbot created by Chitti 2.0, that can transform and disguise itself as a mobile phone. *
Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...
as Pakshi Rajan (Voice dubbed by Jayaprakash) : An ornithologist who operated a bird sanctuary, Pakshi Rajan protests excessive use of mobile phones fearing that high-frequency electromagnetic radiation from cell sites is threatening avian life. He reports it to Jayanth, the telecommunications minister, and Manoj, but they disregard the matter intentionally. Deeply frustrated, Pakshi hangs himself to death from a cell tower. Now his aura, combined with the negative energy of deceased birds, can control cell phones with electromagnetic radiation, which happens to be considered a fifth force. *
Amy Jackson Amy Louise Jackson (born 31 January 1992) is a British actress and model known for her work in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu languages. A former Miss Teen World, Jackson has appeared in over fifteen films. She made he ...
as Nila (Voice dubbed by
Raveena Ravi Raveena Ravi is an Indian voice-over artist and actor. She was born to voice actor Sreeja Ravi and Actor/Singer Ravindranathan Krishnan. She has dubbed several television advertisements directed by Rajiv Menon in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. She ...
) : A domestic and feminine humanoid robot created by Vaseegaran, whose name is a contraction of "Nice, Intelligent, Lovely Assistant". This robot is meant to be a friend, helper, and caretaker. It can drive, perform forensic analysis, jump walls and disable electronic alarms. Later, it falls in love with Chitti. *
Sudhanshu Pandey Sudhanshu Pandey is an Indian singer, film and television actor best known for portraying Vanraj Shah in '' Anupamaa'' and '' Anupama: Namaste America''. Career Sudhanshu Pandey was first reported in the media for being a part of India’s firs ...
as Dhinendra "Dhina" Bohra : A scientist and the son of Dr. Bohra, who was once killed by Chitti. After his father's death, Dhina assumes the robot to be Vaseegaran's alter-ego and wishes to take revenge on him. He happens to be the first person to voice against the reinstatement of Chitti in the government meeting. Later, he also becomes jealous of Chitti's resurgence and, sneaking into the AIRD Institute, he frees Pakshi's aura from the containment circuit, only to be killed by him later for being a cellphone user. *
Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...
as Minister S. Vijay Kumar :The Home Minister who gives unofficial permission to Vaseegaran for Chitti's reactivation. * Ishari K. Ganesh as Jayanth Kumar *
Kalabhavan Shajohn Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 1 ...
as Vaira Moorthy, Minister of Telecommunications * Kaizaad Kotwal as Manoj Lulla *
Anant Mahadevan Anant Mahadevan (born 28 August 1950), also credited as Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, is an Indian screenwriter, actor, and film director of Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil films and television shows. Having been an integral part of the Indi ...
as Head of the meeting * Mayilsamy as Balu, the personal assistant of Vaira Moorthy *
Michael Muthu Michael Muthu is an Indian director, writer and actor who has worked on theatre productions and films. He is based in Chennai. Career Michael Muthu started his career in theatre after finishing his schooling, and was a member of the Loyola The ...
as a police officer * Priya Prince as Pakshi Rajan's mother * Mayur Bansiwal as Pakshi Rajan's father *
Sanchana Natarajan Sanchana Natarajan is an Indian model and actress who has appeared in Tamil and Telugu films. Having appeared in small roles in films including ''Irudhi Suttru'' (2016) and '' 2.0'' (2018), Sanchana rose to fame with her role in Balaji Mohan's ...
as a student visiting Vaseegaran's lab *
Maya S. Krishnan Maya S Krishnan is an Indian actress, model and singer who works in the Tamil film industry. She made her acting debut in the college musical film '' Vaanavil Vaazhkai'' (2015). Early life Maya was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India and did h ...
as a student visiting Vaseegaran's lab * Md Jakir Hossain as police * Murali Satagopan as a student visiting Vaseegaran's lab * Avijit Dutt as Dr. Sam * Adithya Shivpink as a Mobile phone user * Anitha Sampath as a newsreader *
Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebriti ...
as Sana Vaseegaran (voice cameo) (Tamil and Telugu
voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...
by
Savitha Reddy Savitha Reddy, also known as Savitha Engula Radhakrishnan in the Tamil films, is a dubbing artist in the southern India film industry. She has lent voice for heroines in the Tamil and Telugu industries. She is a recipient of Tamil Nadu State F ...
)


Production


Development

The commercial success of ''Enthiran'' (2010) prompted the makers of the film to immediately consider making a sequel. By March 2011, the original film's cinematographer, Rathnavelu, revealed that initial pre-production work on a sequel had begun with the same technical team. S. Shankar, the director of ''Enthiran'', moved on to work on ''
Nanban Nanban may refer to: Japan * Nanban art, Japanese art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries influenced by contact with the Nanban * Nanban trade or the , was a period in the history of Japan from the arrival of Europeans in 1543 to t ...
'' (2012) and '' I'' (2015) and planned to reunite with the same producers as the original was released, with Shankar revealing that he was unsure if the film "will happen at all" during an interview in 2014. While finishing the production of ''I'', Shankar drafted the scripts of three more feature films, including a sequel to ''Enthiran''. Pre-production work for the film had reportedly started in June 2015 with
Lyca Productions Lyca Productions is an Indian entertainment company, which was established by Subaskaran Allirajah in 2014. A subgroup of Lycamobile, the production studio has been involved in the production and distribution of Tamil films made in India. It h ...
deciding to finance the project. Along with Shankar and Rajinikanth, composer A. R. Rahman and editor
Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...
remained on the development team for the sequel, while
Jeyamohan Bahuleyan Jeyamohan (born 22 April 1962) is an Indian Tamil and Malayalam language writer and literary critic from Nagercoil in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. His best-known and most critically acclaimed work is ''Vishnupuram'', a fantasy ...
was added to write the screenplay. Shankar also began briefing the film's art director T. Muthuraj and visual effects supervisor V. Srinivas Mohan about their involvement in the film. Shankar had initially inquired about K. V. Anand's availability. This was before Nirav Shah joined the technical team as a cinematographer in mid-2015 and visited specialist studios in the United States to research filming methods for 3D shoots. Jeyamohan finished work on the script of the film in September 2015 and revealed that the story would be a direct continuation of the 2010 film, with filming only set to start following the completion of Rajinikanth's commitments in ''
Kabali ''Kabali'' is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film stars Rajinikanth in the titular role, with Radhika Apte, Sai Dhanshika, Winston Chao, Kishore, Dines ...
'' (2016). The original film's screenplay writer, Madhan Karky, helped Jeyamohan on some of the more technical dialogue in the script. While the film does include characters and references to events from its predecessor, it is primarily a standalone sequel. A press release coinciding with the start of the film's shoot also revealed that
Resul Pookutty Resul Pookutty (born 30 May 1971) is an Indian film sound designer, sound editor and audio mixer. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, for ''Slumdog Millionaire''. Pookutty has worked in Hin ...
would handle sound designing, Legacy Effects would take care of animatronics work and Mary E. Vogt would design special costumes. Stunt choreographer Kenny Bates and visual effects specialists John Hughes and Walt Jones of Tau Films were also signed to work on the film. Unadjusted for inflation, ''2.0'' was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release.


Casting

Shankar held initial discussions with Kamal Haasan,
Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...
, and then Vikram about portraying a further role, though none of the three actors signed on to appear in the film. Subsequently, the team held talks with Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role, who agreed to work on the film for a record remuneration. The makers then opted against signing Schwarzenegger, though there have been conflicting reasons regarding this decision. British actress Amy Jackson signed on to work on the film in October 2015 and visited
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
as a part of the team's pre-production work. In late November 2015, Rajinikanth also travelled to Los Angeles to meet the film's producers and complete costume trials and initial motion capture effects work for the film. After further negotiations with actors including
Hrithik Roshan Hrithik Roshan (; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He has portrayed a variety of characters and is known for his dancing skills. One of the highest-paid actors in India, he has won many awards, including six ...
and
Neil Nitin Mukesh Neil Nitin Mukesh Chand Mathur (born 15 January 1982) is an Indian actor, producer and writer who mainly works in Bollywood films . Born to singer Nitin Mukesh and grandson of Mukesh, he debuted as a child artist in '' Vijay'' (1988) and ''Jais ...
, the makers signed on Akshay Kumar to portray the role for which Schwarzenegger was initially considered. Sudhanshu Pandey joined the cast of the film in March 2016 and revealed that he would portray a scientist who is the son of Professor Bohra from the original film. Adil Hussain began working on the film in July 2016, and, as a part of his role, undertook extensive research into the life of news reporters. In September 2016,
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...
actor Kalabhavan Shajohn confirmed that he had tried out for a role in the film after Shankar was impressed with his performance in ''
Drishyam ''Drishyam'' () is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It stars Mohanlal and Meena, with Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Asha Sharath, Siddique, Roshan Basheer and N ...
'' and had signed him on.


Filming

An official launch event was to be held on 12 December 2015, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday. However, the team chose to avoid publicity as a result of the
2015 South Indian floods The 2015 South India floods resulted from heavy rainfall generated by the annual northeast monsoon in November–December 2015. They affected the Coromandel Coast region of the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. More than 50 ...
. Instead, the team held a low key launch event at the AVM Studios on 7 December, with the director and the producers in attendance. Titled ''2.0'', the film then began its first scheduled shooting on 16 December 2015 at a set erected in the outskirts of Chennai at EVP World. On the first day of the shoot, a scene featuring Rajinikanth and several dwarf actors was shot at the erected set, while the team's principal cast and crew also assembled for a photoshoot. The first schedule of the film, consisting of Rajinikanth and Amy Jackson, continued in Chennai until 30 December 2015. The team then worked on a second schedule throughout the middle of January 2016 in Chennai and shot scenes featuring Rajinikanth at Mohan Studios and by
Madras Boat Club The Madras Boat Club is one of the oldest rowing centres in India, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The area adjoining it is the most expensive locality in South India. Background A small group of Englishmen in Madras (now called Chennai) found ...
. Shankar continued filming portions not involving the lead actors throughout February 2016 in Chennai, with a car chase sequence shot in Royapettah. Another schedule to shoot a song was initially set to be held at Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia but was cancelled due to bad weather, and the team opted not to travel to the country. Akshay began shooting for the film in Chennai at the beginning of March 2016 and took part in a schedule held at the EVP Film City studio in Chennai. A set of a mobile phone store was built on-site, while night scenes involving robotic equipment and military tanks were also canned. The team subsequently moved to Delhi in order to hold a forty-five-day schedule, continuing on from the same scenes with military tanks that were shot in Chennai. Subsequently, the team filmed sequences at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium depicting an
Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...
match between
Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...
and Mumbai City FC, with hundreds of junior artists recruited to act as supporters. Actors Amitabh Bachchan and
Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai Bach ...
visited the film's set at the stadium with the media reporting that the pair were set to make cameo appearances, though the claim was later denied by the team. Rajinikanth then joined the team in Delhi at the end of March to continue shooting for the project, with the climax sequences being filmed. Action scenes incorporating robotic equipment were filmed throughout early April in Delhi, with cinematographer Nirav Shah using helicams to capture sequences involving the three lead actors. Another ten-day schedule took place in May 2016 in Chennai, with scenes being shot at the EVP Film City studios as well as at
The Forum Vijaya Nexus Vijaya Mall is a shopping mall located in Vadapalani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, developed by Prestige Group. This mall has approx 650,000 square feet of retail space. More than 100 shops occupy its four floors. This mall distinguishes ...
shopping mall. During the shoot at the studios, the visual effects designer Srinivas Mohan digitally converted a green screen sequence into locations including the
Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift ...
and the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
from Delhi after the team were unable to secure shooting permission there. By June 2016, Shankar revealed that after one hundred days of shooting, scenes including the climax and two major action sequences had been completed and that the film was fifty percent complete.
Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...
and Kalabhavan Shajohn began their work in the film during July 2016 in Chennai, while the rest of the cast were given an extended break after Rajinikanth fell ill. Production continued throughout August and early September 2016 without the lead actors in Saligramam in Chennai, where the team shot action sequences of luxury cars being blown up. Following his illness and subsequent recovery, Rajinikanth returned to the sets of the film in early October after a break of close to four months. He shot for scenes alongside Amy Jackson in Chennai, where he was featured fighting huge birds created using animatronic technology with actor
Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu and Kannada films, as well as two Hindi films. Riyaz debuted in Malayalam through the 199 ...
also joining the cast, but eventually he was not included in the final cast of the film. Soon after the schedule finished in early October, Shankar revealed that the film was two-thirds complete, following one hundred and fifty days of shooting. Another schedule began in early November at EVP Film City in Chennai with all of the lead cast and continued throughout the month. All filming was completed except for one song that featured a set erected in Chennai. Jackson was given ten days of practice by choreographer Bosco. Filming was completed in August 2017. Principal photography was concluded on 22 October 2017.


Music

A. R. Rahman composed the film's soundtrack and score, during the pre-production works of the film, in December 2015. Recording of the songs took place for nearly four years. In an interview with Archana Chandhok on
Zee Tamil Zee Tamil is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel started broadcasting on 2008 and is available internationally. The channel broadcasts from Guindy, Chennai, ...
, Rajinikanth revealed that director Shankar wanted to make ''2.0'' without any songs. However, Rahman was still not convinced and felt that an album should have a minimum of four songs to provide listeners with a wholesome experience. A promotional music event for the film was held at
Burj Al Arab The Burj Al Arab ( ar, برج العرب, ''Arab Tower'') is a luxury hotel located in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Managed by Jumeirah hotel group, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total heigh ...
,
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
on 27 October 2017, in a grand manner. And on the same day, two tracks from the film, "Endhira Logathu Sundhariye" and "Rajaali" were released, in Tamil and dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi Madhan Karky and Na. Muthukumar provided the lyrics for the songs in Tamil. The third track, "Pullinangal" was included in the part of the soundtrack album on 6 November 2018. The film score was released on 29 June 2019. Recording of the original score began in London and Rahman's Los Angeles studios in 2016. Unlike previous projects, Rahman began finalising the original background score six months back prior to release because he felt that the scenes were very heavy and it needed a lot of work.


Marketing and release

In November 2016, it was revealed that ''2.0'' was scheduled for release during Diwali on 18 October 2017. In April 2017, Raju Mahalingam, the film's former producer, announced that the film's release had been postponed to 25 January 2018 citing better incorporation of
visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
. The release date was later moved to 14 April 2018. The release date was once again moved to 27 April 2018 but instead '' Kaala'' took that spot resulting in another delay of the film. The making video of the film was revealed on 25 August 2017. The film, which contains approximately 1,000 visual effects shots according to producers, was delayed numerous times while the computer-generated imagery (CGI) work was being completed by numerous effects studios. The film was finally slated to be released in cinemas on 29 November 2018. The teaser of ''2.0'' was released on Ganesh Chaturti, 13 September 2018, in both 3D and 2D. The 3D version was positively received, while some expressed disappointment with the 2D. Its 2D teaser video has been viewed over 32 million times in 24 hours. The film topic was trended and top searched queries on
Google Trends Google Trends is a website by Google that analyzes the popularity of top web search query, search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages. The website uses graphs to compare the search volume of different queries over time. ...
for a week. But the teaser did not mention the release date. According to the source, "There may be a lot of VFX work left in the film and they do not want to delay things too much. This is why, the makers Lyca Productions seem to have put out the teaser so that they can keep the audiences busy." In addition to its original language, the film will be released in 14 other languages with dubbed versions. The film has recovered approximately from satellite, digital and music rights. This includes, but is not limited to, about for satellite and digital rights and for digital rights, the latter sold to Amazon Prime Video. Ahead of the film's release, the
Cellular Operators Association of India The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group focused mainly on telecommunications industry. COAI was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-governmental society. As of 2 ...
(COAI) lodged a complaint, demanding that the
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
(CBFC) certificate of the film be revoked for "promoting anti-scientific attitudes towards mobile phones and cellular networks". The organisation alleged the producers "falsely depicting mobile phones and mobile towers as harmful to living creatures and the environment including birds and human beings". Meanwhile, a Lyca Productions spokesperson said, "We are under no obligation to toe the line and the film does not hunt or defames anyone." Various studies in India have proven that electromagnetic radiation from cell sites has a detrimental effect on bird health. In China, the film released on 6 September 2019. It was said to be released by HY Media in 10,000 theatres with 56,000 screenings, which includes 47,000 3D screenings, which is the largest release ever for an Indian film in the country in May 2019, with a Mandarin dub and subtitles, but the release was delayed to 6 September 2019 and released in about 48,000 screens. A dubbed
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
-language version of the film will also release in Russia on 25 July 2019.


Reception


Box office

''2.0'' was released in about 6900 screens in India and over 2000 screens overseas. On its opening day, ''2.0'' earned about gross collection in India (all versions), which was the second highest ever for an Indian film after '' Baahubali 2: The Conclusion'' (2017)'s . This was around 64 crore
nett Nett also written as Net, is one of the administrative divisions of Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia. Description Nett is one of the six municipalities located in the main island of Pohnpei. It corresponds to the north-central sec ...
. Its worldwide gross was over , which was also the second highest worldwide collection for an Indian film on its first day after ''Baahubali 2''. On its second day, the film went on to be number one at the Australian box office. In Malaysia, the film had an all-time highest opening for any Tamil film. On its second day, the film earned around 45 crore nett in India. The all-India business of ''2.0'' increased to 56–57 crore nett on Saturday (the third day) owing to positive word-of-mouth in North India, while the collections in South India saw a minor drop. Its all-India total increased to 165.5 crore nett. On its third day, the film earned around worldwide in all languages, including from overseas markets. At the American box office, the film surpassed the lifetime business of Rajinikanth's previous film ''
Lingaa ''Lingaa'' is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, based on a story by Pon Kumaran, and produced by Rockline Venkatesh under Rockline Entertainments. It stars Rajinikanth, Anushka Shetty, ...
'' (2014) in just two days. The film debuted at number 11 at the American box office, earning $4.09 million. The screen count was increased from 20 to 75 in Pakistan on its second day to meet the demand. 2.0 grossed US$14.75million ( 1.03billion) in first five days in overseas markets. On its fourth day, a Sunday, business picked up over India, which led the film to accumulate an opening weekend collection of around , the highest amount earned by any film in the week of 29 November to 2 December, ahead of '' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' (2018). Collections in India, discounting overseas, were gross ( 229 crore nett) in all languages. This pushed it ahead of ''Enthiran'', which was the previous highest-grossing film from
Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...
with an earning of 205 crore nett in India. In its four-day opening weekend, the film opened at number one at the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
box office, earning $2.5 million, ahead of '' Creed II'' (2018). On its fifth day, the film earned around ₹451 crore (US$56 million) worldwide in all languages, including ₹114 crore (US$16 million) from international markets. In North India, its Hindi version earned around ₹111 crore (US$16 million). Along with the sixth day business of 24 crore nett, the film earned 282.31 crore nett in India. It did record business in the southern Indian states of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
and
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. By the end of seven days, the film earned worldwide, which included in India and US$15million ( 1.18billion) in overseas markets. The extended first week worldwide collection was .


Critical response


India

''2.0'' received generally positive reviews from critics in India. Shankar's direction, visual effects, performances of Rajinikanth and Kumar, suspense, and social message received praise, while the introduction, script, and dialogues drew criticism.
Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media. Career Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
gave the film five stars out of five and applauded Shankar as "a visionary... He hits the ball out of the park this time. Akshay Kumar is fantastic, while Rajinikanth is the boss". A critic for ''
Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provide ...
'' gave it four and a half stars out of five and similarly commended Shankar, " isdirection is highly effective and he proves once again why he's one of our best filmmakers. He doesn't get overwhelmed by the technology available and makes correct use of it". S Subhakeerthana of ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...
'' gave it four stars out of five: "Shankar has raised the bar in filmmaking in terms of visualisation, grandeur, and every frame of his fascinates you as a viewer". '' Business Today''s Ramesh Bala gave it four stars out of five, and found Kumar to be the film's spotlight: "He has rocked both as Birdman and as a normal man in an emotional flashback". Writing for ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...
'',
Raja Sen Raja Sen (born 10 November 1955) is an Indian film and television director and the winner of three National Film Awards from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the father of actress Rimi Sen. Career Raja Sen first received recognition with ''S ...
rated ''2.0'' three and a half stars out of five, terming Rajinikanth as "smarter than a smartphone" and counted him and Kumar among the film's strengths. A critic for the Indo-Asian News Service also gave three and a half stars out of five and wrote, "Unlike most science-fiction films, ''2.0'' takes the commercial route to entertain, thus does come across as illogical at places, but that's what makes it insanely fun". Devesh Sharma of '' Filmfare'' also gave three and a half stars out of five. M. Suganth of ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' gave it three stars out of five; he stated that there is a sense of "just going through the motions in the first half," but found that the action sequences and chemistry between the leads helped keep the film enjoyable for most of its run-time. Writing for Film Companion,
Anupama Chopra Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...
also gave the film three stars out of five: "''2.0'' is visually overpowering – the VFX are mostly first-rate – but the screenplay doesn't offer the seamless mix of romance, drama and comedy s the predecessor. Janani K, film critic for ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new o ...
'', gave ''2.0'' three stars out of five and appreciated the film's theme, but felt it could be better presented, writing, "Though it is a much-need message, it could have been explained in an intriguing manner rather than the pedantic treatment it gets".
Rajeev Masand Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films released in India in his ...
also gave it three stars out of five. Shubhra Gupta of ''The Indian Express'' gave the film two stars out of five, describing it as "dull as ditchwater in the first half, perking up a little in the second, with a half-way watchable Akshay Kumar, and a Rajinikanth coming into his own right towards the end, for a bit". Pragati Saxena of ''
National Herald The ''National Herald'' is an Indian newspaper published by The Associated Journals Ltd and owned by Young India Limited a company by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. It was founded by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938 as a t ...
'' concurred with Gupta and criticised the pace and dullness of the film. Writing for News18, Rohit Vats also rated two stars out of five and criticised the writing, opining, " hankar'scharacters haven't evolved the way the world around them has". Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
also gave two stars out of five and said, "Bunkum is bunkum no matter how big the bucks behind it are". ''
Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...
'' rated the film 47 out of 100.


Overseas

Simon Abrahams of '' RogerEbert.com'' gave the film three and a half stars out of four and stated, "Against all reason–against all common sense–''2.0'' works, and in a big, big way". Shilpa Jamkhandikar of
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
wrote, "This film certainly has the look and feel of a big-ticket Hollywood production, and that alone is worth the price of the ticket". Kumar Shyam of ''The National'' gave it three and a half stars out of five and wrote, "''2.0'' is a very clever spectacle not to be missed for its sheer audacity and scale". Rafael Motamayor of ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...
'' wrote, "2.0's biggest draw is its impressive use of visual effects, and the film doesn't waste a moment to showcase its budget". He felt " e effects eredetailed enough to stand against a $200 million-dollar American blockbuster".


Awards and nominations


Footnotes


References


External links

* *
''2.0''
on
Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provide ...
* {{Authority control Enthiran 2018 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2018 science fiction action films Indian science fiction action films Science fantasy films 2018 3D films Indian 3D films Films shot in Delhi Films set in Chennai Robot films Android (robot) films Films shot in Ukraine Films directed by S. Shankar Films set in the future Films scored by A. R. Rahman Techno-thriller films