There is something about Rajinikanth that makes filmmakers turn everything he features in into something of a grandiose celebration. The trailer for the veteran actor's upcoming science-fiction, 2.0, seems to be built with the same idea. Also featuring Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson, the film takes off from where the original, Enthiran a.k.a Robot (2010), left off, and begins a new technological revolution of sorts.
The trailer begins with current society's insatiable dependence on technology and mobile phones. The blink and miss visuals of a lone man wandering towards a mobile tower, circled by thousands of birds, is perhaps the sight of Akshay's scientist finally accepting his defeat to technology, and turning over to the dark side.
This is depicted in the next cut of mobile phones flying out of people's hands to form an autonomous entity of themselves, now turning on their masters with vengeance. This remains the most stylised VFX element of the film as the giant bird made of mobile phones seeks to destroy the city.
Enter Chitti 2.0, the upgraded version of the original robot in the first film. Rajinikanth plays the black chrome cyborg, with a dash of flirtatiousness as a nod to the villain in the first film.
The film does have a touch of environmental crusade with its depiction of the impact of mobile phone signals on birds, but it seems a little over the top. The VFX, one of the most expensive parts of the film, looks fairly impressive. From giant birds, a cellphone built villain, and later the scene of Rajinikanth's epic battle with the giant Akshay in the stadium.
Akshay Kumar looks very different to any role he has performed in recent times, and looks the part. Rajinikanth, on the other hand, comes across as a little stiff in his role. The actor looks his age when he is uttering the punchline 'I will set your screens on fire'.
Amy Jackson plays the cyborg assistant to Rajinikanth's scientist. It is she who puts together the upgraded version of Chitti, after the original possibly gets destroyed by Akshay's monsters.
The trailer does hint at the grey-shades of Akshay's character, who simply plays a scientist gone down the wrong path. However, it fails to recognise that even the evil scientist uses technology as a means to defeat technology.
2.0 is produced by Lyca Entertainment, and will be released in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages. The film is being distributed by Dharma Productions in the Hindi language.
2.0 is set to be released on 29 November.