Southern superstar Rajinikanth chose to give the screening of his recent film Kochadaiyaan a miss at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji in Goa. A day before, the actor was honoured with the Centenary Award for the Indian Film Personality of the Year at IFFI's opening ceremony.
The movie, released in May this year, marked the directorial debut of the cinema legend's 30-year-old daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth.
The organisers had earlier announced the presence of the 63-year-old industry veteran at the screening of his film on Friday at the Kala Academy, one of the venues for IFFI in Panaji but later declared his absence at the event.
"Rajinikanth who was supposed to be personally present for the screening couldn't make it due to his preoccupation in Bengaluru," announced a senior ministry official before the screening, which was attended by Soundarya and her mother Latha, who had lent her voice to the film.
Missing her father's presence on the occasion, the filmmaker said she is thankful to her father for bringing the motion-capture technology to India.
"It's indeed an honour for me to be a part of IFFI this evening. Kochadaiyaan is my first film and I am a debutante director. The movie is India's first performance captured photo-realistic film. My dad is not here today but I want to thank him for bringing this technology to our country," said Soundarya.
{{/usCountry}}"It's indeed an honour for me to be a part of IFFI this evening. Kochadaiyaan is my first film and I am a debutante director. The movie is India's first performance captured photo-realistic film. My dad is not here today but I want to thank him for bringing this technology to our country," said Soundarya.
{{/usCountry}}The director also said that through this film she tried to create a legendary living animated character.
"Animation is very new in India and this is a humble first attempt to bring this technology into the arena of Indian entertainment. Unlike films including (James Cameron's) Avatar and (Steven Spielberg's) Tintin where there are fictitious characters, I took on myself to recreate the legend of my father. I hope you enjoy the film," she said.
The Tamil historical fiction action film also starred Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Jackie Shroff.