Lingaa / Movie / Official Teaser | Rajinikanth | KS Ravi Kumar | Sonakshi Sinha | Anushka Shetty | AR Rahman

Lingaa is an upcoming Tamil action thriller film being directed by K. S. Ravikumar, who also scripted the film in collaboration with the film's dialogue writer, Pon Kumaran. The film stars Rajinikanth plays dual role, Jagapati Babu, Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead roles. Music is being composed by A. R. Rahman[1][2] while cinematography is being headed by R. Rathnavelu.

 

Principal photography commenced on 1 May 2014 in Mysore; majority of the filming took place in Ramoji Film City. The climax portions were canned in Shimoga.

Cast[edit]

Rajinikanth as Raja Lingeshwaran

Anushka Shetty as chellamaa

Sonakshi Sinha

Jagapati Babu

Dev Gill

Santhanam

Karunakaran

Brahmanandam

Radha Ravi

Vijayakumar

R. Sundarrajan

Manobala

Ilavarasu

Anu Mohan

Prabhu (Cameo appearance)

Falk Columbo

Lauren J. Irwin

William Orendorff

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

In March 2014, Rajinikanth was finalized as the lead for K. S. Ravikumar's next film.[3] The following month, Ravikumar stated on Facebook that filming would commence soon and that the film was titled Lingaa.[4] Eros International was confirmed to distribute the film worldwide.[5] Ravikumar's assistant Pon Kumaran co-wrote the script for the film and also penned the film's dialogues. Rockline Venkatesh was announced as producer.[6] A. R. Rahman was roped in as the music composer for the film and R. Rathnavelu as the cinematographer.[7] Sabu Cyril was confirmed to handle the art direction for the film.[8] Samjith Mhd, who had worked with Ravikumar earlier in Policegiri (2013), was confirmed as the film's editor.[9] Hollywood stuntman Lee Whittaker was recruited to frame the stunt sequences.[10]

 

Casting[edit]

In April 2014, Sonakshi Sinha had confirmed her involvement in the project, stating that she would play a village girl who helps Rajinikanth's character in the film.[11][12][13] In late April 2014, Telugu actor Jagapati Babu confirmed on his Facebook page that he was signed on for a role in the film.[14] Sudeep was reported to have refused an important role in the film, but he however denied being approached for the film in the first place.[15] Further, reports circulated again in August 2014 which strongly suggested Sudeep was a part of the cast as he was seen during the canning of the climax portions but he clarified that he wasn't offered a role in the film yet.[16] Comedian Santhanam joined the team in May 2014.[17] Actors Radha Ravi, Vijayakumar and R. Sundarrajan were called up to play important roles in the film.[18]

 

British actress Lauren J. Irwin was selected to appear in the pre-independence portions of the film.[19] American actor, director and writer William Orendorff was selected to play a key role in the film and furthermore, confirming his involvement in the project through Twitter.[20][21] Anushka Shetty joined the unit for shooting her portions in the film on 27 June 2014.[22] Sonakshi Sinha, in an interview with Mumbai Mirror, said that there are two different tracks of filming scenes, and that Anushka Shetty and her will not share much screen space and was given liberty to pick up the role she felt suitable for her.[11] In June 2014, actor Karunakaran was selected to play a supporting role.[23] Actor Dev Gill was selected to play a secondary antagonist role.[24] Director and comedian Manobala confirmed that he would appear in a small yet significant role as a train driver.[25] Tollywood comedian Brahmanandam was selected to portray the role of a police officer.[26] Actor Prabhu Ganesan will do a cameo appearance in the film.[27] Actresses Trisha Krishnan and Nayanthara were rumored to perform an item number, but the latter's inclusion remained unconfirmed and the former denied the news saying that she was never approached.[28][29]

Principal photography commenced on 1 May 2014 in Mysore, Karnataka, India, with a customary Puja ceremony.[31] Rajinikanth and Sonakshi Sinha took part in the shoot.[32] The muhurat shot of the movie was filmed in May 2014 at the Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysore.[33] Cinematographer R. Rathnavelu revealed that filming would be done using a Red Dragon 6K camera.[34] In addition to this, the Phantom Flex 4K camera was used for filming action sequences.[35] The film crew shot in various locations in Karnataka like Melukote, Manuvana, Pandavapura, Chamundi Hills and inside the residential portion of Mysore Palace.[36][37] On 10 May 2014, Sonakshi had completed her portions for the first schedule of the film's shooting.[38] On 18 May 2014, Rajinikanth and Anushka Shetty shot some scenes dating back to the British era in front of the illuminated residential portion of the palace. Horses were used for the shot. Over 50 policemen and 30 bouncers had been deployed to prevent people from getting near the shooting area in Mysore.[39]

The team then moved to Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad for a two month schedule, where sequences featuring the entire cast were shot for 50 days.[30][40][41] A song sequence featuring Rajinikanth and Anushka was shot at Annapurna Studios, wherein the production team had designed a huge set for the song.[42][43] On 13 July 2014, actress Sonakshi Sinha completed her filming schedule in Hyderabad.[44] The Hyderabad schedule ended on 30 July 2014.[45] During the Hyderabad schedule of the film, news circulated that Rajinikanth fainted on the sets while filming a heavy action sequence but Ravikumar denied this, citing that the actor was healthy.[46][47]

 

In early August 2014, the team shot some scenes near the Radisson Hotel in Chennai, with Anushka Shetty in the frame. In mid-August 2014, the production unit confirmed that 80% of the filming was completed.[48] Filming then moved to Thirthahalli and the Jog Falls, where some important scenes were canned for twenty-five days.[49] For the film's climax, a big statue of Lord Shiva and dam both as set were constructed next to the Jog water-falls.[50][51] Shooting also took place at the Linganamakki Dam.[52] The film's climax requirements accounted for INR10 million (US$160,000).[53] In September 2014, the climax portion's filming was allotted ten days, confirming the shoot in Karnataka.[54] On 22 September 2014, Whittaker confirmed that the climax portions of the film were completed with a stunt sequence choreographed by him. The film's shooting was wrapped up by 23 September 2014 except filming of two song sequences that were reported to be canned in Chennai and Scotland.[55][56]

During the Hyderabad schedule of the film, some villagers of Anajpur village in Rangareddy district in Telangana had tried to halt the shooting of Lingaa, stating that some chemicals were mixed in the nearby lake during shoots, polluting local water. But the crew members stated that they had sought the permission of the irrigation department and the village Panchayat for shooting.[57] The crew members also dismissed allegations of chemicals in the lake.[58] During the shooting of the climax portions near the Linganamakki Dam, environmental organisations opposed the permission granted to the production unit for shooting, suggesting a threat to the location as public entry to the dam was prohibited.[59] The organisations also had sent a petition to both the Deputy Collector's office and the Deputy Commissioner's office, who in turn, sent the petition to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, for scrutinity.[60][61] Regarding the same issue, officials of the Karnataka State Police Board also sent a letter to the Chief Minister asking him to end the shooting of the portions of the film there, citing that the bio-diversity and life in and around the dam would be affected.[62]

 

Music[edit]

A. R. Rahman composed the soundtrack album and background score for the film. Singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam has sung the introduction song, whose lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.[63]

 

Release[edit]

The film was scheduled for a 12 December 2014 release date which coincides with Rajinikanth's birthday.[64]

 

The motion poster of the film was released on Ganesh Chaturthi , which fell on 29 August 2014.[65] The motion poster received positive response from critics and fans alike and trended on Facebook and Twitter following its release.[66] It reached around 5 million hits on all social networking sites put together in a day.[67] The poster featured Rajinikanth walking in his trademark style in a younger avatar with a temple being shown in the poster's backdrop.[68]

 

The satellite rights of the film were purchased by Jaya TV.[69]

 

A teaser for the film was released on 1 November 2014.[70]

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