Ready for Hollywood: Sun Pictures COO about Endhiran
Getting the all-time biggie, Endhiran, ready for worldwide release on October 1 with a record 2,200 prints, Sun Pictures’ chief operating officer Hansraj Saxena is beaming with confidence that the magic combo of his production house with Superstar Rajinikanth, beauty queen Aishwarya Rai, ace director Shankar and music maestro A.R. Rahman is bound to click.
“Making the possible the impossible has been the motto of Sun Pictures. We have made Endhiran possible,” Mr Saxena told Deccan Chronicle, sharing some thoughts that had gone into the making the trilingual (Robot in Telugu and Hindi) that consumed `160 crores and two years.
“It was the vision of our MD Kalanidhi Maran that we make a movie of world standards using our vast potential. We have realised that dream,” he said, adding, “Endhiran became possible thanks to the rich and tremendous production values.”
Asked what gave Sun Pictures the confidence to make a South Indian film, which has limited market, with a massive budget, he said, “Frankly, we did not plan anything at the first level of discussion. Rajini sir, Kalanidhi and Shankar met and took a call that we will jointly make a quality film. At that stage, nothing was discussed as to how to market it or how to make it big. The movie just got bigger at each stage — the songs, locations, computer graphics — and everything turned out amazingly well. We were simply pumping in money as demanded by the script. And ended up getting a product that’s of an unimaginably grand scale.”
On Mr Maran’s comment during the audio release that Rajini was yet to take his remuneration, the Sun COO said when the project was launched, the superstar said he would talk about salary only when the film got released. “He is modesty personified. Now it’s time for us to give back.”
On Sun’s plans, Mr Saxena said they would make big budget movies as well as quality films of smaller budgets next year. And as for talks that Sun was planning a Rajini-Jackie Chan flick — “It sounds nice; but whether we are doing a Jackie Chan film or not, I can vouch that we are well equipped with technical and financial expertise to come out with a Hollywood film.”
Source : deccanchronicle