Kochadaiiyaan was released in 2014. An animated period action film directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth, it was India's first photorealistic motion capture film. Superstar Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone featured as characters "whose designs were based on the appearance and likeness of their respective actors".
Upon its theatrical release, the film was a disaster. Eros International, which distributed the film worldwide, recently announced its revival. It will be remastered using AI and released all over again. "Under its Eros Remastered banner, the company will reimagine Kochadaiiyaan using its AI models," a report by Variety India says.
Upon its release, it was heavily criticised for "substandard motion capture animation and rendering".
Despite its failure and the low buzz surrounding such a project, Rajinikanth's daughter remains "incredibly proud", considering that "no one has since attempted another full-fledged performance-capture, motion capture film like that". Speaking to Galatta Plus recently, she said, "Kochadaiiyaan will always remain close to my heart. At the time, the technology was evolving, and every single frame had multiple layers that we painstakingly created."
The AI remastered version is unlikely to receive substantial public attention. It seems to be a passion project and a last attempt to revive it from being completely forgotten.
