Call it great online marketing. Call it great timing. Call it whatever you want, but you can’t take away from the fact that Rajinikanth’s ‘Superstar’ appeal is alive and kicking on Youtube. The teaser for his upcoming motion capture 3D flick Kochadaiiyaan set the numbers rolling with a massive 4.2 lakh people watching it within 12 hours of being released at 9.30 am on Vinayagar Chathurthi. And all of this comes despite the fact that most Rajinikanth fans who viewed the 1.15 minute teaser called the graphics ‘childish’ and ‘amateurish’, at best.
The teaser shows clips of an ‘animated’ Rajinikanth as an ancient king riding into battle and later surveying his kingdom as he does a dance of penance. It begins with the words, ‘There are heroes. There can be superheroes. But there is only one...Rajinikanth’. Directed by his daughter Soundarya R Ashwin, the film has music by A R Rahman and also stars Deepika Padukone and Sarath Kumar amongst others. Filming was done through 2012 and this year and post-production in now on.
This is quite a feat for the film’s teaser, given how the teasers of most Tamil films, even with top-of-the-line stars like Ajith and Vijay manage about 12-15 lakh views in all. In fact, the official teaser of Vijay’s Thalaivaa garnered 12.5 lakh views (with reposted videos garnering close to 5 lakh views) and was considered a record of sorts - till the Superstar arrived on Youtube, anyway.
Barring the usual slew of ‘Thalaivar is awesome’ comments that invariably come from die-hard fans of the actor, over 907 people ‘disliked’ the teaser of Kochadaiiyaan and expressed disappointment at the quality of the visuals. Some like Shakthi Rajappa commented, “I am a die-hard Rajini fan. But this likes the visuals were ‘captured’ from the video game Assassins Creed. I know that `125 crore is a low budget to make a Hollywood style animation movie, but still I did not expect these low-end graphics. I am heartbroken. The filmmakers fooled us for 2 years.” The consensus was also that the graphics were so outdated that they looked like a Hollywood video game from the late 90’s at best.
The power of Youtube videos taking Tamil films to a global audience was established after the success of Dhanush’s cult ‘Why This Kolaveri Di’ video. Despite having garnered less than one lakh hits on the first day, it was viewed by 35 lakh people in the first week and now, 2 years later, stands at 7.13 crore hits. “It is a clear sign that social media marketing is coming of age in India, especially in the entertainment segment,” observed social media analyst Shankar, who is also a noted blogger, “But it is still in a nascent stage in Tamil films and only big names like Rajinikanth are able to pull in the numbers that can make producers sign a cheque for vigorous paid online promotions.” The most number of hits that a video on Youtube has garnered is ‘Gangnam’ singer Psy’s video ‘Gentlemen’ which was viewed 3.5 crore times in a single day, this April.
None of this seemed to deter Rajini’s daughter and his current director, Soundarya, as she tweeted, “Next teaser will reveal the stunning looks of the beautiful Vadhana Devi (Deepika’s character),” with a tinge of excitement and announced that the audio launch would be in October.
Watch the official teaser