Kochadaiyaan Teaser Review - A Letdown?
The media and fans' reactions to Kochadaiyaan's teaser can be best summarized by the story of "The Emperor Has No Clothes" as majority succumb to group pressures despite what is perceived by their own judgment. Apart from AR Rahman's splendid music score and last few seconds of Thalaivar's signature gait, the teaser did not give much reasons for fans to cheer about. Given some similarities to "Magadheera" showcased in a limited number of shots, the verdict is that the massively hyped 50-second teaser has not lived up to the tremendous expectations.
Fans letdown by high expectations
Kochadaiyaan has been touted to be at par with Hollywood movies such as Avatar and Tintin from the first day of commencement. With such lofty expectations thrust upon audience while operating on a fraction of the budget of Hollywood productions, there is only one direction for the opinions to point -- downwards. Clearly, Director Soundarya could have done a better job in managing expectations appropriately instead of setting the bar way too high for herself through pre-release talks.
Self-Proclamations
It is a surprise how Rajnikanth allowed the tagline in the teaser "There are heroes, there are superheroes but there is only one Rajinikanth". In the past, such statements have been made by fans, media and other leading heroes all over India. However, such bold self-proclamations made rather desperately as part of a teaser is atypical of Rajni's characteristics who is known for simplicity and humility.
Business goals over fans satisfaction
To give a quick background, when Kochadaiyaan started rolling, the movie had already accrued huge carry-over losses from 'Sultan' and 'Rana' to the tune of Rs.15 Crores. Eros took over the Kochadaiyaan project under the condition that Rajni will work with Eros as part of their next 3 projects. In order for Eros to justify the investments till date, the movie is targeted to do business close to Rs. 150 Crores (higher than Enthiran) and the box office collections need to exceed Rs.200 Crores (similar to the collections seen for Chennai Express).
Such business pressure by Eros on debutante director Soundarya is driving Kochadaiyaan down a perilous path. We have seen a similar pattern earlier for Kuselan, which focused purely on the business of selling the movie rights to distributors at the highest price possible without being candid to the fans that Rajni has limited screen time in the movie.
Will Kochadaiyaan's Content be the Saviour?
Given Kochadaiyaan's short-comings in the use of motion capture technology and its inability to meet international/Hollywood standards, the focus of Kochadaiyaan's team should rather be on setting appropriate expectations aimed at pleasing the fans and send them home satisfied.
All eyes are now on KS Ravikumar's commercial script & dialogues, quality of Rajnikanth and other co-stars' dubbing and AR Rahman's songs which will eventually determine the success of Kochadaiyaan.