Entertainment

2.0 Teaser Out: Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar And Lots Of Visual Effects

It’s finally out. The first teaser trailer for the Rajinikanth-Akshay Kumar starrer 2.0 is available online.

After being delayed time and again, the sequel to the 2010 Rajinikanth starrer Enthiran a.k.a. Robot is finally headed for a November release. That certainty also implies a green-light on the promotional activities for the movie. And in keeping with the promise made by director Shankar and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, the first teaser trailer for 2.0 is now available to watch online. Check out the Tamil version below, and scroll below for the Telugu and Hindi versions.

2.0 has been a project mired in delays, controversy and an often-used term in the west called development hell. Only in this movie’s case, all troubles arose after the movie was shot. The visual effects for the movie were entrusted to an unknown American company (rumored to be either Double Negative or Rhythm & Hues) who declared bankruptcy and put the entire project in jeopardy. Moreover, the quality of the effects delivered was so poor that the filmmakers had to start from scratch.

This has led to the project being pushed multiple times. Previously set to release in 2017 on the auspicious Indian festival of Diwali, it was shifted to January 26, 2018 to cash-in on the extended Republic Day weekend in India. It was then again pushed to April 2018, and yet again to August 2018 in hopes of drawing a huge turnout around the Indian Independence Day holiday, until veteran filmmaker Shankar tweeted its release date for November 2018, setting it in stone. A teaser was also set to arrive early this year but didn’t.

The entire fiasco around the movie’s visual effects kind-of takes its toll on the trailer. We can see a plethora of VFX shots that look unfinished, with CGI and compositing that’s quite obvious and visible and models that appear digitally inserted in the scene. For a movie that’s undergone this harrowing situation, it’s sort of acceptable for most of the effects to come out this way. Whether or not the audience is as forgiving as we are remains to be seen, and if early comments are any indication, they’re ripping the effects apart. Moreover, the fact that we’re still three months away from release means there’s still plenty of time to fix these issues before the official release.

The plot itself remains quite a secret, except for what’s hinted at in the teaser. We know that Akshay Kumar plays some sort of weird crow-human hybrid and his emergence is what draws acclaimed scientist Vasikaran to bring out his most trusted robot Chitti out of hibernation after the events of the first movie. And with all the cell phones flying in the air and being snatched out from people’s hands, one can also speculate that this Crow is trying to rid humanity from its addiction towards cell phones.

2.0 is set for release in Indian screens on November 29, 2018. Stay tuned to more of our coverage on Appocalypse, and visit this link to check out our other pieces on the movie.

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