Vishwaroopam
Encyclopedia
Vishwaroopam is an upcoming bilingual spy thriller film to be written and directed by Kamal Haasan
that features himself in the lead role. It's being filmed in Tamil
and Hindi.
stated in November 2010 that he was working on the scriptment
of his "pet project" titled Thalaivan Irukkiran, a film about an international community, which was touted to become his next release. 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 the project. 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. Reports further suggested that the film was based on the 2001 American psychological thriller Hannibal
, with Kamal playing a cannibal, similar to Anthony Hopkins
' role, while Yuvan Shankar Raja
was said to compose the film's musical score. The film became named Vishwaroopam by late March and was planned to begin by mid-April and be completed within 100 days. It was further revealed that the film would be produced in three languages-Tamil, Telugu and Hindi-simultaneously, and that Kamal therefore had signed the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, leading composers in Bollywood
, for the music department, replacing Selvaraghavan's choice, Yuvan Shankar Raja.
On 24 May 2011, it was announced that Selvaraghavan was ousted from the project, who was busy finishing his ongoing project with his brother Dhanush
, and Kamal Hassan decided to direct the film himself in addition to writing the story, screenplay and dialogues. The producing studio, Telephoto Films, had urged Kamal Haasan to take up the project, planning for a release on 7 November 2011, while sources further reported that the estimated budget was around 150 crores, making it one of the costliest productions in India. The film was then disclosed to be a spy thriller on the lines of the Mission Impossible series. In October 2011, it was confirmed that the film was being made as a bilingual, simultaneously being shot in Tamil and Hindi languages; all the actors had to learn their dialogues in both languages.
was approached to play the lead female character, who became confirmed the following month and was said to play the wife to Kamal Haasan's character. 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 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 widely reported to have been roped in for the role, while few days later, sources stated that Anushka Shetty
was finalized. In early November 2011, Times of India confirmed that New York based model-actress Pooja Kumar
was signed on for the role and that she had been shooting for three weeks by then.
Shriya Saran
was earlier 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, which turned out to be untrue, with Kamal Haasan citing that he did not know who Priya Anand was. Isha Sharvani
was meanwhile selected for a role thanks to her dancing abilities, with reports suggesting that she would essay the character of Kamal Haasan's sister in the film, while Rahul Bose
was finalized for the antagonist
role in the film. By late August 2011, British model-turned-actress Amy Jackson
was reported to have been added to the cast, portraying a foreigner in the film. The team also failed in the pursuit to sign up Lakshmi Manchu
for a role, with the actress revealing on Twitter
that she could not allot dates for the film. During mid-October, reports confirmed that singer-actress Andrea Jeremiah
had been signed on for a pivotal role and paid an advance. Later that month, actor-director Shekhar Kapur
informed on Twitter that he would perform a cameo role in Vishwaroopam, while Samrat Chakrabarti
had also been selected for a supporting role in the film. Bollywood actor Jaideep Ahlawat
disclosed in an interview that he would play an "out-and-out negative character" in the film.
Kamal Haasan's younger daughter Akshara Haasan joined the crew as an assistant director
, while Vairamuthu
was roped in to pen the lyrics for five of the six songs.
, postponing filming to June.
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
that features himself in the lead role. It's being filmed in Tamil
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
and Hindi.
Cast
- Kamal HaasanKamal HaasanKamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
- Pooja KumarPooja Kumar (model)Pooja Kumar is an American actress, producer, model and television hostess. She was crowned Miss India USA and has been a veejay for Channel V, a newsreader on the show Namaste America and has starred in such feature films as Kaadhal Rojave, Night of Henna, Flavors, Hiding Divya, Park Sharks,...
- Rahul BoseRahul BoseRahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
- Isha SharvaniIsha SharvaniIsha Sharvani is an Indian dancer and actress. She is known for her stylistic and difficult dance performances...
- Andrea JeremiahAndrea JeremiahAndrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born...
- Jaideep AhlawatJaideep AhlawatJaideep Ahlawat is an Indian actor who acts in Bollywood. He also acted in Bollywood film Khatta Meeta as villain Sanjay Rana. He was born in Village Kharakar Rohtak and he completed his acting graduation from FTII in 2008. His next film was Aakrosh with Ajay Devgn...
- Samrat ChakrabartiSamrat ChakrabartiSamrat Chakrabarti is a British-American actor and musician of Indian descent.-Early life:Born in London, England to immigrant parents from Kolkata, India, he performed in Indian community functions in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was exposed to music, poetry and the plays of Rabindranath...
- Shekhar KapurShekhar KapurShekhar Kapur is an Indian film director and producer. A critically acclaimed director, he rose to popularity with the movie Bandit Queen...
(Special appearance)
Development
After finishing his Manmadan Ambu (2010), Kamal HaasanKamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
stated in November 2010 that he was working on the scriptment
Scriptment
A scriptment is a written work by a movie or television screenwriter that combines elements of a script and treatment, especially the dialogue elements, which are formatted the same as in a screenplay. It is a more elaborate document than a standard draft treatment...
of his "pet project" titled Thalaivan Irukkiran, a film about an international community, which was touted to become his next release. Termed as a big budget multi-starrer
All-star
All-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...
film, it was expected to commence by March 2011, with a Hollywood studio reportedly coming forward to produce the project. However in early 2011, sources claimed that Kamal shelved
Shelved
In politics, the term can be used for policy drafts, that have never been officially brought into legislation.In the film industry, a film is considered shelved if it is not released for public viewing after filming has started, or even completed....
that project and agreed to star in a Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan
-Personal life:Selvaraghavan is the son of film director Kasthuri Raja, elder brother of actor Dhanush and has two sisters, who are both doctors. On 15 December 2006, he married actress Sonia Agarwal, with whom he had previously worked with on three films...
directorial, being impressed by the one-line story narrated to him. Reports further suggested that the film was based on the 2001 American psychological thriller Hannibal
Hannibal (film)
Hannibal is a 2001 psychological thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1991 Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs that returns Anthony Hopkins to his iconic role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter...
, with Kamal playing a cannibal, similar to Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
' role, while Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
was said to compose the film's musical score. The film became named Vishwaroopam by late March and was planned to begin by mid-April and be completed within 100 days. It was further revealed that the film would be produced in three languages-Tamil, Telugu and Hindi-simultaneously, and that Kamal therefore had signed the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, leading composers in Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
, for the music department, replacing Selvaraghavan's choice, Yuvan Shankar Raja.
On 24 May 2011, it was announced that Selvaraghavan was ousted from the project, who was busy finishing his ongoing project with his brother Dhanush
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja , better known by his stage name Dhanush , is an Indian film actor, occasional playback singer and lyricist, working in the Tamil film industry...
, and Kamal Hassan decided to direct the film himself in addition to writing the story, screenplay and dialogues. The producing studio, Telephoto Films, had urged Kamal Haasan to take up the project, planning for a release on 7 November 2011, while sources further reported that the estimated budget was around 150 crores, making it one of the costliest productions in India. The film was then disclosed to be a spy thriller on the lines of the Mission Impossible series. In October 2011, it was confirmed that the film was being made as a bilingual, simultaneously being shot in Tamil and Hindi languages; all the actors had to learn their dialogues in both languages.
Casting
By February 2011, reports emerged that Bollywood newcomer Sonakshi SinhaSonakshi Sinha
Sonakshi Sinha is an Indian actress and model.She is the daughter of actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha and Punam Sinha...
was approached to play the lead female character, who became confirmed the following month and was said to play the wife to Kamal Haasan's character. 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 Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film...
, and Sonam Kapoor
Sonam Kapoor
Sonam Kapoor is an Indian film actress who appears in Bollywood films. Kapoor made her acting debut in the unsuccessful film Saawariya opposite newcomer Ranbir Kapoor, which earned her a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She earned her first commercial success in I Hate Luv...
were considered. Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before appearing in feature films....
was also approached by the makers, but she declined the offer, owing to her prior commitments. By mid-August, Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy is an Indian film actress, primarily working in the Hindi film industry and Tamil industry. Apart from Bollywood, Reddy has also appeared in a number of Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam films.-Early life:...
was widely reported to have been roped in for the role, while few days later, sources stated that Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu...
was finalized. In early November 2011, Times of India confirmed that New York based model-actress Pooja Kumar
Pooja Kumar (model)
Pooja Kumar is an American actress, producer, model and television hostess. She was crowned Miss India USA and has been a veejay for Channel V, a newsreader on the show Namaste America and has starred in such feature films as Kaadhal Rojave, Night of Henna, Flavors, Hiding Divya, Park Sharks,...
was signed on for the role and that she had been shooting for three weeks by then.
Shriya Saran
Shriya Saran
Shriya Saran , also known by the mononym Shriya, is an Indian film actress and model. She has worked in several of the regional industries of Indian cinema, having acted in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi language films, as well as a few films in English, Malayalam and Kannada...
was earlier 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
Priya Anand
Priya Anand is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Tamil and Telugu films. She appeared in some Tamil and Telugu films including, Vaamanan and Leader.- Early life :...
was claimed to have bagged that role, which turned out to be untrue, with Kamal Haasan citing that he did not know who Priya Anand was. Isha Sharvani
Isha Sharvani
Isha Sharvani is an Indian dancer and actress. She is known for her stylistic and difficult dance performances...
was meanwhile selected for a role thanks to her dancing abilities, with reports suggesting that she would essay the character of Kamal Haasan's sister in the film, while Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
was finalized for the antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
role in the film. By late August 2011, British model-turned-actress Amy Jackson
Amy Jackson
Amy Louise Jackson is a British model and film actress. Before starting her acting career, Jackson won the Miss Teen World competition in 2008 and went on to win Miss Liverpool in 2010 and was hotly tipped to be Miss England in 2010 but lost out to Jessica Linley...
was reported to have been added to the cast, portraying a foreigner in the film. The team also failed in the pursuit to sign up Lakshmi Manchu
Lakshmi Manchu
Lakshmi Prasanna Manchu is an Indian film actress, producer and a television host. She is the only daughter of actor Mohan Babu and his first wife late Vidya Devi. She graduated with a Bachelors in Theater Oklahoma City University. She has acted in the American Television series Las Vegas and...
for a role, with the actress revealing on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that she could not allot dates for the film. During mid-October, reports confirmed that singer-actress Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born...
had been signed on for a pivotal role and paid an advance. Later that month, actor-director Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kapur is an Indian film director and producer. A critically acclaimed director, he rose to popularity with the movie Bandit Queen...
informed on Twitter that he would perform a cameo role in Vishwaroopam, while Samrat Chakrabarti
Samrat Chakrabarti
Samrat Chakrabarti is a British-American actor and musician of Indian descent.-Early life:Born in London, England to immigrant parents from Kolkata, India, he performed in Indian community functions in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was exposed to music, poetry and the plays of Rabindranath...
had also been selected for a supporting role in the film. Bollywood actor Jaideep Ahlawat
Jaideep Ahlawat
Jaideep Ahlawat is an Indian actor who acts in Bollywood. He also acted in Bollywood film Khatta Meeta as villain Sanjay Rana. He was born in Village Kharakar Rohtak and he completed his acting graduation from FTII in 2008. His next film was Aakrosh with Ajay Devgn...
disclosed in an interview that he would play an "out-and-out negative character" in the film.
Kamal Haasan's younger daughter Akshara Haasan joined the crew as an assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
, while Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
was roped in to pen the lyrics for five of the six songs.
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 CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, postponing filming to June.