Ai : THE WAIT GETS LONGER

Shankar's magnum opus with Vikram, in the making for the last 18 months, is put on hold

Ace film-maker Shankar's next project Ai, featuring Tamil superstar Vikram and British model-turned-actress Amy Jackson, has been delayed further and will not release in June as planned.

Apparently, the delay in background score, coupled with the deferred release of Rajinikanth's Kochadaiyaan and Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam 2, is responsible for the postponement of the release of Ai, which has been in the making for the last 18 months. The movie, one of three biggest projects in Tamil in recent times, was scheduled for release during mid-2014. But things are not going as planned for Shankar. “This is not new for a movie directed by Shankar. As a master story-teller, he wants everything to be perfect. He does not compromise even if there is even two per cent variation. He is of the opinion that a delayed release is better than facing flak from the audience,“ a top distributor from Chennai said.

We hear that Shankar was not happy with a few scenes, involving Amy Jackson and he was forced to reshoot them with the actress. At the same time, A R Rahman, who is composing music and the background score of the movie, has reportedly sought more time to make it perfect.

Shankar is also particular that Ai gets an extended run in theatres without any interruption. Kochadaiyaan is releasing on May 23 and Vishwaroopam 2 is likely to hit the theatres in July or August. As both movies command huge market, including overseas, Shankar does not want Ai’s performance to be affected.

“The movie has an interesting storyline with an universally appealing subject. He plans to release Ai in Telugu and Hindi other than the original Tamil. There are plans to release the movie in eight other Indian languages as well (dubbed). He has grand plans and therefore he does not mind waiting for the right time to release,” a little birdie from Mumbai said.

It is said that the protagonist is a senior citizen, who tries to woo the winner of a beauty pageant by transforming himself as a youth. The actor, we hear, had reduced his weight to fewer than 50 kg during the shoot.

The shooting for the movie had been put on hold for some time, owing to financial complications.

Source : Mirror ( Bangalore )