Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger set for South gala

Hyderabad: International actor Jackie Chan will be attending a Telugu film’s audio launch in Hyderabad and if everything goes according to the plan, Arnold Schwarzenegger too will attend the film’s Tamil audio release in Chennai. “We are looking for a good venue in Chennai. If the venue is finalised, Arnold will come for the function,” says Aascar Ravichandran, producer of the Tamil film Ai, directed by Shankar. The same film is releasing in Telugu as Manoharudu.

While Arnold’s presence is not yet finalised, the producer says Jackie Chan has confirmed his invite for the Telugu audio function that will be held in Hyderabad on September 15. Ravichandran is actually a friend of both these Hollywood bigwigs and has met them many times. He, however, denies rumours that Arnold is playing a cameo in the film, which has Vikram and Amy Jackson as the leads. A.R. Rahman is the music director.

On Sunday, the producer organised a preview of the film’s songs and trailer for select media personnel. “Vikram met Arnold to get some tips as he had to put on a lot of weight for the film,” adds Ravichandran.

With a budget of Rs180 crore, Ai will be the most expensive film in Indian cinema. The producer, who is planning for a Diwali release, says, “The film will release in nearly 15,000 theatres in China.” The Chinese government allows only 50 foreign films to release in the country every year and the Vikram-starrer is one of them. This will be the first time that an Indian film will release in 15,000 theatres there. “We are dubbing the film to suit the country,” says the producer.

The film will also be releasing in other languages across the world including Taiwanese, Japanese etc. In India, the film is releasing in Malayalam, English,  Telugu and Hindi, other than Tamil. It will release in a total of 20,000 theatres across the world. Vikram needed special make-up for the film, which took nearly 12 hours to put on. “He faced many difficulties and health problems too. Sometimes he would have to stay inside a refrigerator for five minutes as the make-up needed to remain cool,” reveals Ravichandran. The producer adds that for a five-minute song, they had to shoot for 40 days. It took a total of two years and eight months to complete the film. “It was shot extensively in China,” says the producer.