The forthcoming Rajinikanth-starrer Kochadaiyaan (a 3D film) is to be dubbed in three foreign languages — Japanese, Italian and Spanish, besides English. It is being made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.

Betting big on the movie’s export potential, the producer of the film, Media One Global Entertainment Ltd, approached Exim Bank for funding, and landed a Rs 20-crore loan from the bank. According to J. Murali Manohar, Director, Media One Global, the film’s post-production costs are very high as this stage involves several domestic and foreign technicians and the use of facilities in the US, London and Hong Kong.

Now the film, scheduled for release in mid-January 2013, is in the post-production stage. The rupee-dollar volatility has made the production cost of the film unpredictable. “But I can say it will comfortably surpass Rs 125 crore,” he said. The company is in talks with a couple of other banks for another Rs 30-crore loan to complete post-production works. Elaborating on the movie’s export potential, Manohar said the company may strike a Rs 25-crore deal for export of its Tamil version alone. Factoring in its Spanish, Italian, Japanese and English versions, the overall business size would far exceed that of Enthiran , he said. Rajinikanth’s earlier film Enthiran (Robot) is said to have grossed a little over Rs 200 crore. “We expect Kochadaiyaan to set new standards in the Indian film industry,” says Manohar.

The rights for the movie’s music (scored by Oscar winner A.R. Rahman) were sold for close to Rs 7.5 crore to Sony Music ( Enthiran’s music rights were sold for Rs 7 crore). The star cast of Kochadaiyaan , directed by Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya R. Ashwin, includes Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, Sarath Kumar, Shobana and Nassar. Rajiv Menon is the cinematographer.

T.C.A. Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director of Exim Bank, said the bank usually considers a movie’s export potential and the production house’s track record before granting a loan. In the case of Kochadaiyaan too, the bank is convinced of its export potential. As per the agreement, the borrower has to pay back the money before the release of the film.

Overall, Exim Bank has a close to Rs 400-crore exposure to the film industry, and “the NPA is nil”, said Ranganathan.

> ravikumar.ramanujam@thehindu.co.in

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