When Rajini Can do, Why Can’t Others?

Superstar Rajinikanth’s Coolie is hitting the screens by next week, and the promotions are underway. Director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s interviews in the recent past are making it to social media in the form of viral posts. In one of the interviews, Lokesh revealed that the film will feature very very limited CG shots and the team opted to shoot the movie in real locations as much as possible. At the age of 74, when Rajini is ready to shoot in real locations, for big-budget action dramas, the next generation stars are still relying on green mats and artificial sets.

The audiences have been highlighting the new trend of star heroes opting to shoot the films indoors, either on special sets or in studios. They have mostly been staying away from using real locations for the shoot. The difference between a natural location and an artificial location can be clearly made out on the screen, and the audience today is intelligent enough to understand the technicalities behind it.

The producers are complaining about the rising costs and the VFX delays, causing the film lose the buzz and gain negativity. It is also impacting the film’s release date, thus paying penalties to the OTT platforms. Most of the stars avoid shooting in real locations, thinking they will be mobbed. But when Superstar Rajini managed to shoot the film in real locations, all other actors also could manage.

For instance, Sekhar Kammula tried to shoot most of the film Kubera in the real locations of Mumbai. It brought a lot of authenticity to the project, enabling the audience to get immersed in the film and live with the characters. But shooting the film on a green mat will not give us that feeling.

In recent years, most films have been criticized for looking artificial or overdone with VFX. The audience fatigue has set in due to excessive reliance on computer graphics. The intention is not to stay in touch with the technological advancements or rely on VFX, but old-school filmmaking techniques are always the real winners when it comes to leaving a long lasting watching experience in the audiences’ minds.