Enthiran (English: Robot) is a 2010 Indian Tamil science fiction film directed by S. Shankar and co-written by him and Sujatha Rangarajan. The film stars Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in lead roles; Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam and Karunas play supporting roles. The soundtrack album and background score were composed by A. R. Rahman while the dialogues, cinematography, editing and art direction were handled by Madhan Karky, R. Rathnavelu, Anthony and Sabu Cyril respectively.
The story revolves around a scientist's struggle to control his creation, an android (both played by Rajinikanth), whose software is upgraded to give it the ability to comprehend and exhibit human emotions. The project backfires when the robot falls in love with the scientist's girlfriend (Rai Bachchan), and is manipulated by a rival scientist (Denzongpa) into becoming homicidal.
After being stalled in the development phase for nearly a decade, the film's principal photography began in 2008 and lasted two years. Enthiran marked the debut of Legacy Effects studio, which was responsible for the film's prosthetic make-up and animatronics, in Indian cinema. Enthiran was released worldwide on 1 October 2010, along with its dubbed versions: Robot in Hindi and Robo in Telugu. Produced by Kalanithi Maran, it was India's most expensive film up to that point.
Enthiran is the soundtrack album to the 2010 Tamil science fiction film of the same name, directed by S. Shankar and starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The soundtrack album includes seven tracks composed by A. R. Rahman and was released on 31 July 2010 by Think Music. The release coincided with a promotional event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The album also released in Telugu as Robo on 6 August 2010, while its Hindi version, Robot, was released on 14 August 2010. The former was released on Think Music itself, but the latter was released by Venus.
The soundtrack album's release rights in Tamil and Telugu were purchased by Think Music for ₹ 70 million (US$1.6 million). The songs "Kadhal Anukkal" and "Arima Arima" were aired for the first time on Suryan FM on 30 July, a day before the soundtrack release. The album was officially released on 31 July 2010, which coincided with a promotional event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Co-hosted by Vivek and 'Punnagai Poo' Gheetha, the event was attended by most of the film's cast and crew members, including Kalanithi Maran, S. Shankar, Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai, A. R. Rahman, Santhanam, Karunas, Vairamuthu, R. Rathnavelu, Anthony, Sabu Cyril, and Yogi B. Other invited guests include Dayanidhi Maran, Radha Ravi, Vadivelu, Shriya Saran, Jayam Ravi, Ramya Krishnan, S. A. Chandrasekhar, Aishwarya and Soundarya Rajinikanth, Krish, and Sangeetha Arvind. Furthermore, Silambarasan Rajendar, Vijayalakshmi Agathiyan, and Poorna were part of stage performances.
2.0 is an upcoming Indian Tamil–Hindi science fiction film directed by S. Shankar. A sequel to Enthiran (2010), the film will feature Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah of Lyca Productions, the film is expected to be the most expensive film in Indian cinema, surpassing the Baahubali series. The soundtrack album will be composed by A. R. Rahman while the dialogues, cinematography, editing and art direction are handled by Jeyamohan, Nirav Shah, Anthony and T. Muthuraj respectively. The film is scheduled for a 2017 release.
The commercial success of Enthiran (2010) prompted the makers of the film to immediately consider making a sequel and by March 2011, the original film's cinematographer, Rathnavelu revealed that initial pre-production work on a second part had begun with the same technical team.S. Shankar, the director of Enthiran, moved on to work on Nanban (2012) and I (2015) and plans to reunite with the same producers as the original was dropped, with Shankar revealing that he was unsure if the film "will happen at all" during an interview in 2014. While finishing the production of I, Shankar drafted the scripts of three more feature films, including that of a sequel to Enthiran.