Vishwaroopam

Vishwaroopam (titled Vishwaroop in Hindi; transl. The magnificent incarnation) is a 2013 Indian action thriller spy film written, directed and co-produced by Kamal Haasan, who also enacts the lead role. The film has Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah and Jaideep Ahlawat in supporting roles. Filmed simultaneously in two languages: Tamil and Hindi, the film features a soundtrack composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, with the Tamil lyrics written by Vairamuthu and Haasan himself, while Javed Akhtar translated them for the Hindi version. Development of the project began after the release of Haasan's Manmadhan Ambu (2010) when several of the crew were brought in from the United States to lend their technical expertise. The direction was taken over by from Selvaraghavan and reports indicating a comparison with several English films surfaced during the production. The first teaser was revealed in April 2012 and first theatrical trailer was revealed in June 2012. Vishwaroopam is the first Indian film to utilize the new Auro 3D sound technology. The film was also to be the first Indian film to release via direct-broadcast satellite, also known as direct-to-home (DTH), but after protests of theatre owners this plan was dropped. The film released worldwide, excluding Tamil Nadu, on 25 January 2013 while the Hindi version was released on 1 February 2013. Legal controversies, regarding the film's plot of Indian security services' participation in the War on Terror, arose as several Muslim civic organizations protested the film's release in Tamil Nadu, resulting in an official ban being imposed on the film in the state for 15 days by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The ban resulted in similar decisions in major overseas markets like Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore while release was delayed in the south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. Despite the fragmented release, Vishwaroopam garnered positive reviews and, at the time of its release, was the second highest-grossing Tamil film of all time (as of 2018, it ranks seventh). Heeding the requests of Muslim civic organisations, controversial scenes were muted or morphed, allowing the film to be released on 7 February 2013 in Tamil Nadu. The film was honored with awards for Best Art Direction and Best Choreography at the 60th National Film Awards. A sequel to the film, Vishwaroopam II, released on 10 August 2018.