It won’t be an over-the-top description to call the first look launch event of superstar Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar’s upcoming film 2.0 the biggest film event of 2016. Like the budget of Shankar’s film, which is more than Rs 350 crore, the event has also been planned on a grand scale. The who’s who of Indian film industry will congregate in Mumbai on Sunday as the makers will unveil the first look of Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar from the big-ticket sci-fi movie
On Wednesday evening, the Thalaivar took the internet by storm by tweeting the first poster of the Enthiran sequel. We should understand one thing, there was no such thing as a ‘first look launch event’ until a few years ago in Indian film industry. The advent of social media and its popularity paved way for releasing the first look posters to create curiosity among the audience as a marketing strategy. Even makers of Baahubali 2, another expensive film from India, smartly selected the Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival to release the first look of Prabhas from the film. But, none of the filmmakers have held an event on such a grand scale as 2.0’s.
The teaser poster has only heightened the curiosity of the fans about the upcoming film event even as they mostly are perplexed about what to expect from the 2.0 first look launch. And Bollywood’s Khiladi perfectly summed up the state of mind of the fans worldwide in a tweet. “What awaits, no one knows!! Sit tight…just 4 days to go. Experience the #2Point0FirstLook on 20th Nov. at 5 pm (sic) Are you ready?” What we can assure is it will be a great event.
The film event will be held at prestigious Yash Raj studios at a cost of Rs 6 crore, which is an average cost of making two Tamil films. The hour-long event will be hosted by Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar, who has perfected his anchoring skills over the five seasons of Koffee with Karan. Popular event management company, Wizcraft, will oversee the arrangements for the mega film event.
While the makers are yet to reveal the guest list and special guests, if any, the big names associated with the project will be present at the event, including the world renowned music composer AR Rahman, Amy Jackson and film’s producers. The first look of Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar will be presented in 3D format, another first in Indian cinema.
“Director Shankar has always been the pioneer in utilising the most unique and innovate imaginations in his creations. The 2.0 first look will also surely exceed our expectations and will leave us spellbound,” said Raju Mahalingam, creative head of Lyca Productions in a statement.
As every fan can’t witness the spectacle in person in Mumbai, the event will be live streamed on a YouTube channel. According to reports, it is just the beginning of a spate of promotional activities that the makers have planned to promote 2.0. While the demonetisation has cast a pall over the other films, it seems to have had no effect on the upcoming Rajinikanth-starrer. The makers reportedly earmarked Rs 40 crore just for marketing the multi-crore sci-fil film. They have also planned to organise such big events in various cities of the country in the coming months.
