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Six years in the making and Soundarya Rajinikanth just can’t wait for May 23 to arrive. “If I had a rupee for everyone who asked me when the film would release, I’d have enough to make another Kochadaiiyaan,” says Rajinikanth’s younger daughter with a laugh. The animated motion-capture period film marks the directorial debut of the 29-year-old.
The first thing that struck t2 when she sat down to chat at Mumbai’s JW Marriott Hotel was her simple look –– jeans, checked shirt, a discreet pair of solitaire earrings and barely any make-up.
Why animation?
I have always been very passionate about animation. I studied multimedia and I have been in the animation industry for six years now. I wanted to make a film using technology that’s new to India.
It’s always daunting to direct your first film. In your case, you are directing your father who is also an icon and you are using new technology. That’s quite a challenge?
(Laughs) Absolutely! I have made a film in a medium that’s new in our country. What egged me on was my father’s confidence. I knew what I would do with the story and the technology and fortunately I had producers who took the plunge with me.
This film was announced almost six years ago. And everyone kept saying that it’s been delayed...
Ya, that always annoyed me. Films like this take five-six years to make. I couldn’t explain how painstaking this process was. If you watch the making of Kochadaiiyaan, you would realise that shooting is just the first step. You capture all the actors and then apply it to a 3D character based on the person. Then every single thing you see on screen is created from scratch. On the upside, getting a chance to direct my father is a dream for every director. So, I can’t complain much (laughs).
Did you at any point in these six years wish you had done an easier film?
(Pauses) Yes, because every step was such a challenge. I had the final cut of the film only about a month ago. To give you a sense, every second of the film has 24 frames and each frame in my film has 40 layers. By layers I mean the hair, the make-up and costume, the backgrounds and secondary characters. If a shot is taken on the streets, you have the shop vendors and their wares and the traffic.
You’ll see Deepika (Padukone) and my dad in front of a huge army. I had to shoot it separately because a motion-capture studio is as big as a banquet room in a hotel. You can shoot only five people at a time because you have only 40 infrared cameras. While it was exciting to use all that technology, there were moments when I wished I had made a live-action film.
Six months into shooting, my father started getting restless because he was used to live action where you can watch what you have shot the same day. But then, my passion for animation carried me through. I knew what I was getting into. I knew that the process would be tough. And my mum (Latha) kept telling me: ‘Every pioneering effort is tough’.
When you decided to make the film, did you have your father in mind?
No. Things just fell in place. Kochadaiiyaan is the prequel to Rana. It’s a film he was supposed to make, but unfortunately fell ill. Once he recovered, we didn’t want to put him under too much physical strain. Rana is a period film with many action sequences. So, we decided to make a prequel and I told him about motion-capture. And here we are today.
Do you remember the moment you first directed your dad?
I will never forget that moment. To see my dad on the floor when I said ‘action’ was just crazy. We shot in a studio called Centroid, which is in Pinewood Studios, London. We shot from 9am to 6pm for six days. Everything was story-boarded, so we worked like clockwork.
Were there times when the daughter took over from the director in you?
Always… yeah! During lunch I wanted him to eat, take proper rest and have his medicines. He had to wear something like a scuba-diving suit through the shoot and had a head camera screwed on to his shoulder. It was all tight and very uncomfortable. So, after four-five takes, I’d ask Appa if he’d want to relax. In those moments I was the daughter and not the director. There were also times when the fan would take over when he would say a certain dialogue or do a move. It was tough not to be in awe (laughs).
Did he have any advice for you before shooting commenced?
The one thing he told me before we started shooting was: ‘Creative people can never say enough. Directors can never say we don’t need to shoot any more. You need to learn if you want to perfect a shot or cram in more ideas’. It made total sense because I wanted to have five songs in different exotic locales. But you can’t pour all your creativity into one project.
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How is your dad keeping?
He had a health condition that required him to rest but it was blown out of proportion. We did take him to Singapore but it was also because we wanted privacy.
When you and your sister Aishwarya were growing up, at what point did you realise that your father is a huge movie star?
By the time I was born, Appa was already a superstar. When we started school, the kind of extra attention we got because of him reiterated the fact.
Did you visit him on film sets?
All the time. We used to go to his shoots and dubbing. Dubbing meant an outing for us because we would get to spend time with him. My sister and I love the food that you get on the sets (laughs).
How would you describe Rajinikanth the person?
He is a wonderful, simple, down-to-earth and true person. Appa started with nothing. He was a bus conductor. He went from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu without knowing the languages. He hasn’t forgotten where he started. The environment my sister and I grew up in was very humble and honest. We were not spoilt. When he says that he doesn’t believe in luxury cars, he really doesn’t. He hates hotel suites and keeps saying that he feels lost in them.
Do you have a favourite Rajinikanth film?
Yes. He did a film in the ’90s called Baashha. That film turned me into an insane Rajinikanth fan.
Neeta Lulla on designing for Rajinikanth & deepika in Kochadaiiyaan
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| Neeta’s sketches for Rajinikanth and Deepika in Kochadaiiyaan |
I have designed for all the characters of Kochadaiiyaan, for the entire cast. What it involved was a whole lot of detailed sketching in quite a few phases. There was a whole lot of explaining done to animation technicians… the details of how fabrics fell or the sound of the fabric, the jewellery and how it would fall with motion. I think this is India’s first brush with such a format and also my first. This was very challenging. When you sketch you do show details, but this was like recreating the whole garment on paper.
I don’t think we interacted too much with Rajini sir on the costuming because a lot of it was on paper. In the initial film that was supposed to be made called Rana, we created a look for him according to his comfort level. That movie did not get made, but keeping the same sensibility, keeping in mind what he was comfortable in, I worked on the designs. Soundarya was very sure that the distinctive difference between the two characters (Rana and Kochadaiiyaan) should come across clearly.
Deepika Padukone (who plays Princess Vadhana) is in a variety of garments. Be it an Amrapali-like outfit or a sari effect, we have worked on various looks for her, keeping the era in mind.
I have lost count of the number of sketches! All I can say is that each outfit had at least six to eight drafts. The producers Sunanda Murali and Dr Murali of Mediaone Global Entertainment keep saying the costumes are looking so good and I am like, where are the costumes? It is a very different genre. This is something that even I am kind of making truce with… that I am not doing clothes. You feel, ‘What am I doing? Where are my clothes?!’ A sense of insecurity at times!