The movie in question is called ENDHIRAN (aka THE ROBOT) and it's another Bollywood sci-fi fest. Shooting has even started already, with a musical number set in Peru going before the cameras first. But this is no *LOVE STORY 2050* <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_2050>, an inert wannabe-sci-fi mess that just kind of lay there and gasped for air. This time we're promised sheer, off-the-wall, wigged-out freakiness. Why? Because:
- the director is S. Shankar, the man responsible for the Bollywood remake of the Tamil film NAYAK. This is the story of a reporter (Anil Kapoor of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) who becomes Prime Minister of India for a day and fixes the country's social problems by punching people in the face. It also features *a MATRIX-esque fight scene with a nude, mud-covered Kapoor*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQhkoPr8NRw>(the fun starts around 1:30). S. Shankar's second-to-the-last movie was *ANNIYAN* <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTD3O4m8WuI> , a Tamil film about a lawyer with *MPD*<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_personality_disorder>who seeks justice by causing evildoers to be trampeled to death in a buffalo stampede, fried in pots of oil and sucked dry by leeches. It was a musical. His latest movie is the Superstar Rajnikanth mega-hit *SIVAJI: THE BOSS*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKPbia-HXY0>in which Tamil superstar Rajnikanth battles the corrupt government with his fists. the music is by AR Rahman, India's most lauded (and most expensive) composer. *His music for DIL SE*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_2gW3zwMMQ>and a million other movies have become modern-day classics and you can pretty much rest assured that with Rahman on music you're in for a treat. Already photos have been leaked from the Peruvian musical number that started shooting in early September, but the assistant director responsible (a woman, as the press eagerly pointed out) has been identified and terminated. One Assistant Director down, 49 to go. ENDHIRAN is set for an April, 2010 release, which gives them plenty of time to fire them all. (Note: EDHIRAN is officially a Tamil film, but it seems like it'll be released both in Tamil and in Hindi, it's got some Bollywood money behind it, and the Bollywood press is covering it, which is why we're calling it a Bollywood film. But, for the record, it's officially from Kollywood.) (*More info* <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endhiran>) http://varietyasiaonline.com/component/option,com_myblog/show,7414 -- regards, Vithur
