Saudi Arabia is set to re-open its cinema halls from March 2018 and there is a strong possibility of the Rajinikanth starrer 2.0 being released there. The Saudi Arabian government had closed down its cinema halls in the 1980s and since then no movies have released in that country till date. With the government agreeing to throw open their cinema halls from March 2018, the makers of 2.0 are working towards releasing their magnum opus and it could become the first Indian movie to release there.
On this, Raju Mahalingam, the COO of Lyca Productions had said, “The overall revenue for a big film production can increase by 30%. Since movies have now begun to open in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in India, we hope to release them in all three languages in Saudi Arabia too. A new market in West Asia, where a substantial number of Tamil and Malayalees stay, will be a big boost for our movies.”
Directed by Shankar, 2.0 is the sequel to the 2010 smash hit Endhiran, which had Rajinikanth in the lead role and Aishwarya Rai as his heroine. Playing the baddie in the sequel is the Bollywood hero Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson will be seen as Rajini’s love-interest. AR Rahman is composing music for the film with Nirav Shah cranking the camera and Anthony editing it.
One of the most expensive films to be made in India, it is produced by A Subhashkaran under his banner Lyca Productions on a budget of Rs. 450 crores.
Reports suggested that the film would hit the marquee during the Republic Day weekend in January but its release has now been pushed to April and it would release as a summer special. According to the filmmakers, it will be out in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.