Vishwaroopam
Vishwaroopam is an upcoming Tamil-Hindi bilingual Indian spy thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Kamal Haasan that features himself in the lead role The film, also has Rahul Bose, Andrea Jeremiah and Jaideep Ahlawat in supporting roles. The soundtrack is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, with lyrics by Vairamuthu and Kamal Haasan for the Tamil and Javed Akhtar for the Hindi versions respectively. The film was shot with the same cast in both languages simultaneously, and is titled in Hindi as Vishwaroop.
Development of the project commenced after the release of Kamal's Manmadhan Ambu, and several of the crew were brought in from Hollywood. The direction department was taken over by Kamal Haasan from Selvaraghavan, and reports indicating a comparison with Hollywood films surfaced during the production. Due to delays, casting took a relatively long period of time, with several of the original cast dropping out of the project. The film was shot extensively overseas, in countries including the United States and Canada, while domestic locations included Chennai and Mumbai. It is the first Indian film, and second world film (after Red Tails) ever to be equipped with Auro 3D sound format. Vishwaroopam will be first of its kind to release on DTH platforms, on the concept of one time watch for mere 1,000 (US$18.2). According to Kamal Haasan the film is expected to earn 350 crore (US$63.7 million).
Cast
Kamal Haasan as Viswanath
Pooja Kumar as Dr. Nirupama
Andrea Jeremiah as Ashmita
Rahul Bose as Omar
Jaideep Ahlawat
Samrat Chakrabarti
Zarina Wahab
Nassar
Shekhar Kapur in a special appearance
Miles Anderson as Dawkins
James Babson as Tom Black
Jude S. Walko as Captain Joe
Chris Kotcher as Tollbooth Operator
Greg Sammis as F.B.I. Agent
David Scott Diaz as F.B.I. Agent
Melissa Bayer as Store Customer
Development
After finishing his Manmadan Ambu (2010), Kamal Haasan stated in November 2010 that he was working on the scriptment of his "pet project" titled Thalaivan Irukkiran, a film about an international community. Termed as a big budget multi-starrer film, it was expected to commence by March 2011, with a Hollywood studio reportedly coming forward to produce it. However, in early 2011, sources claimed that Kamal shelved that project and agreed to star in a Selvaraghavan directorial, being impressed by the one-line story narrated to him.[8] Reports further suggested that the film was based on the 2001 American psychological thriller Hannibal, with Kamal playing a cannibal, Closer to release, Kamal Haasan revealed that he had thought of the story seven years before production began and had to convince himself that the story could be made into a feature film. The film was named Vishwaroopam, after several titles were considered, by late March and the shooting was planned to begin by mid-April and to be completed within 100 days. It was revealed that the film would be produced in three languages—Tamil, Telugu and Hindi—simultaneously. There will also be a dubbed Telugu version titled Vishwaroopam.
On 24 May 2011, it was announced that Selvaraghavan was ousted from the project, as he was busy finishing his project with his brother Dhanush. Kamal Hassan decided to direct the film himself in addition to writing the story, screenplay and dialogues. The producing studio, Telephoto Films, had urged him to take up the project, planning for a release on 7 November 2011,. The film was then disclosed to be a spy thriller on the lines of the Mission Impossible series. The film was being made as a bilingual and simultaneously shot in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages; all the actors had to learn their dialogues in both languages. Sanu John Varghese made his debut as a cinematographer in Tamil after previously working in the Hindi film, Karthik Calling Karthik and the Malayalam film Elektra. Varghese had previously been a part of the team that Kamal Haasan had assembled for Marmayogi, which did not take off. Mahesh Narayanan, a leading Malayalam film editor, was signed up for the project after he had acquainted with Kamal Haasan for the pre-production works of the film Traffic, which the actor later opted out from. The team signed up N. G. Roshan as a make-up artiste after Kamal Haasan appreciated his work in the 2009 Malayalam film Pazhassi Raja, while Mahadevan Thampi was picked to be the still photographer after Kamal Haasan had worked with him for a day during his guest appearance in Four Friends.
Casting
By February 2011, newcomer Sonakshi Sinha was approached to play the lead female character, and was confirmed to play Haasan's wife. Her salary for the film was touted to be 2 crore (US$364,000). However, with the film getting delayed, she opted out by July, due to conflicting dates with her Hindi assignments. Following Sinha's exit, other leading Bollywood actresses, including Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, and Sonam Kapoor were considered. Vidya Balan was also approached by the makers, but she declined the offer, owing to her prior commitments. By mid-August, Sameera Reddy was reported to have been roped in for the role, while sources stated that Anushka Shetty was finalised soon after.
Shriya Saran was reported to play the second female lead in the film, with the actress dismissing the news several days later, citing that she had not even heard the script, following which Priya Anand was claimed to have bagged that role. This turned out to be false, with Kamal Haasan citing that he did not know who Priya Anand was. Isha Sharvani was meanwhile selected for a role, with reports suggesting that she would essay the character of Kamal Haasan's sister in the film. However, Sharvani too opted out later, due to "inordinate delay in the start of the shoot". By late August 2011, British model-turned-actress Amy Jackson was reported to have been added to the cast. During mid-October, singer-actress Andrea Jeremiah had been signed on for a pivotal role and paid an advance.
Rahul Bose was finalised to play the antagonist. Later that month, actor-director Shekhar Kapur informed on Twitter that he would perform a cameo role, while Samrat Chakrabarti had also been selected for a supporting role. Jaideep Ahlawat disclosed in an interview that he would play an "out-and-out negative character" in the film. Zarina Wahab told in November 2011 that she shot for a small role in Vishwaroopam. In January 2012, Chitrangada Singh was offered a "very special role", which the actress had to decline, since her dates clashed with Sudhir Mishra's film.
Filming
The film's shooting was supposed to take off on 20 April, but became delayed, since the US Consulate had refused Visas to the cast and crew. The team decided to relocate to Canada, postponing filming to June. The shooting began for the film in Chennai in August 2011 and locations filmed at included Haasan's office in October 2011, when Isha Sharvani was also a part of the shoot. The film briskly progressed in late 2011, with scenes involving Samrat Chakrabarti filmed in November. Sets resembling Afghanistan were created in Chennai, with many foreigners from Russia, Iran and Africa playing American soldiers, while Haasan wore an Afghan look. In November 2011, the team also pursued schedules in Amman and Petra in Jordan with Rahul Bose's scenes being canned. Haasan learnt Kathak from Birju Maharaj for an important portion in the film.
Kamal Haasan went to USA on 15 December 2011 for completing a schedule. The main outdoor shoots were shot in New York as the lead character is based there, and the production team also matched New York with the Grand Rapids in Michigan. Re-recording and dubbing work began in Mumbai in late February 2012, with Haasan arranging a dialogue coach in Tamil and Hindi to get the artistes' dubbing in place, with Atul Tiwari supervising the Hindi dialogues. The climax scenes featuring an aerial fight choreographed by Hollywood stuntman Lee Whittaker was filmed at Chandivali Studio in Andheri, Mumbai in early March 2012 with Haasan and Rahul Bose.The film was shot in digital format, after several false starts Haasan's previous projects. Speaking about it, he said "The fact that cinema is going digital is the biggest technological change today. We have to accept it, as it is happening globally and it will happen in Tamil Nadu too."
Gouthami designed the costumes for the film. A research had to be carried out on the American army's hierarchy for the costumes. N. G. Roshan, who had previously worked in notable Malayalam films, took charge of the make-up for the film. The villain had to undergo a heavy use of prosthetic make-up. A scene involving a war explosion had to show an injured jaw for him. Further, the artists appearing as war victims had blood and other forms of injuries applied on their bodies. The Jaika stunt team, that was also involved in Ajith Kumar's Billa II then, worked on the action sequences. Haasan's younger daughter Akshara Haasan joined the crew as an assistant director. Kunal Rajan was roped in as a sound designer and the stunt crew for the film were imported in from Thailand.
Music
Initially, Yuvan Shankar Raja was reported to compose the film's musical score. However, Kamal signed in the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy to compose music for the trilingual, making it his second collaboration with them after Aalavandhan. Lyricist Vairamuthu took charge of the lyrics of the songs in the film, after Kamal Haasan had approached him and narrated the entire plot, to which he immediately agreed to work upon. Javed Akhtar has penned lyrics for the Hindi version, while Ramajogayya Shastry has done the lyrics for the dubbed Telugu version. The audio was released on 7 December 2012. The telugu version of the audio was released on 30th December at Hyderabad.
Release
The makers planned the high-budget production to premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. A special screening of the film was arranged for Hollywood-based producer Barrie M. Osborne and make-up artist Michael Westmore. Before release, it was reported to have been split into two parts, with each one having a separate release.
The first look poster and a teaser of the film were released on May Day 2012 as part of the film's marketing process. The poster consisted of Kamal Haasan wearing a green khaki jacket, with a flying pigeon and a skyline of a city consisting of several skyscrapers in the background. Snippets from the film were unveiled during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend and awards in Singapore in June 2012, as the actor-director screened excerpts from the film, attracting critical acclaim. He also went on to reveal the synopsis of the film, mentioning that a sequel was already planned and several sequences had already been shot featuring Andrea Jeremiah in a more prominent role. A one minute trailer was released at the award ceremony, which saw Kamal Haasan and Andrea take part in a press conference. The film's Tamil version was given a U/A (Parental Guidance) certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification with minor cuts, while the Hindi version Vishwaroop, got an "A" (Adults Only) certificate with no cuts. However, it was later announced that the Hindi version went through minor cuts to receive the U/A certificate. A third theatrical trailer (in Auro 3D) was released on November 7, coinciding with Haasan's birthday. It included a webcast of Kamal's speech via Skype. The film is releasing in 3,000 prints worldwide. While the movie would release in theatres on January 11, 2013, it will be premiered on 6 DTH players - Tata Sky, Airtel, Sun, Dish, Videocon & Reliance at 9:30pm on January 10, 2013 in Tamil, Telugu & Hindi.
Controversies
During post-production, the producers ran into conflict with the Hindu Makkal Katchi who claimed that title should be changed since Vishwaroopam was a Sanskrit word rather than a Tamil word. They argued that Kamal Haasan was being anti-Tamil, by naming the film in another language. The same political party had also clashed with Kamal Haasan during the making of his previous film Manmadan Ambu.
Vishwaroopam was about to see its premiere on DTH platforms, wherein Haasan had roped in many DTH operators for the simultaneous release on DTH along with the theatrical release. However, it was later reported that the concept would be dropped after the Tamil Nadu theater organisations protested against such a television release. Reports again emerged that Hasaan is keen on releasing Vishwaroopam on DTH platform, stating "If only three percent of population in Tamil Nadu use DTH services, then how much loss can one show of my film possibly cause the producers or theatre owners?". He also added that it would be one time show, few hours before the film actually releases in theatres and would approximately cost 1,000 (US$18.2).
