Troubles mount for Soundarya for Kochadaiyaan release

Debutante Soundarya Rajinikanth’s push to release Kochadaiyaan (Vikramasimha in Telugu) has hit upon a fresh hurdle. The latest announcement postponing the movie to May 23, follows half a dozen previous delays that have now left many fuming.

In AP, exhibitors have had enough. “It’s strange. Until Thursday, the film was on schedule with advertisements booked and even online bookings. Then, out of the blue, we just got a message saying the parts with 3D technology wasn’t finished so the film had been postponed,” claims Sunil Narang, owners of the Asian Cinemas multiplex chain.

He continues: “The film has now become a big headache for us. They did push the dates in the last minute and as multiplex owners, we know that it’s not easy to get the same opening once postponed.”

Also, May 23, for Telugu audience, is not really the best of dates to shift to. Nagarjuna releases his Manam on the same day and it’ll be interesting to see if an animated Rajini is still able to gather enough moviegoers.

But even May 23 seems like a tentative date. Over the past few months, several concerns around inflated budgets, unpaid staff and poor animation quality have surfaced.

“A problem with 3D sounds hard to believe. We have heard they shot many hours of motion capture footage which finally didn’t match the story. Moreover, Soundarya’s expertise in handling a project of such a scale has also been questioned and the industry rumours are that the film was taken to Hong Kong for a fix,” says a source.

Claims of ‘financial problems’ too have not been substantiated. But Indian animation experts continue to debate the delays.

The chief executive officer at a leading visual effects company says: “VFX-heavy movies do cost a lot and managing the budget is indeed a very important part. But, I must also add that Soundarya is not the first debut director to have experienced such crisis and it will be highly unfair to single her out. Many just feel she bit off more than she could chew.”