Adhisaya Ulagam is a 2012 Indian Tamil science fantasy film written and directed by Shakti Scott and produced by R. Banuchitra. The film stars J. Livingston, Sree Lakshmi, Mannan Prithivraj, Anandha Kannan, and Latha Rao, in a project combining animation with live action as India's first 3D film that featured dinosaurs. In the film, Neelakantan, an Indian scientist, invents a time machine through which he and his grandchildren are accidentally transported to the prehistoric world. There they encounter numerous now extinct animals, including dinosaurs. The film was released on 10 August2012 in India. In the director's words the film received mostly negative reviews majorly because the critics failed to recognize the fact it was made in a zero budget. According to The Times of India, the director of the film failed as a storyteller and the film was "a bland Jurassic adventure".
Plot
Professor Neelakantan is an maverick Indian scientist and inventor who develops and constructs a time machine, and begins experimenting with it. He realises that his machine requires a recognised "object" to work, and he therefore seeks to locate such an object that can be transported in time through his machine. He jokingly tells his pet dog that he would use it as the "object". Varsha and Vikas are Neelakantan's mischievous granddaughter and grandson who live with their parents and are very fond of the grandfather. While on a visit, the two children enter Neelakantan's laboratory in his absence and start playing with the dog. Varsha throws a ball that strikes the time machine's control screen and accidentally turns on the device, which recognises Varsha and Vikas as transferable "objects". Neelakantan enters the room and is shocked to see the machine's condition, but it is too late. As he tries to save the kids, he too is recognised as an "object" by the machine, and his grandchildren and he are accidentally transported to the age of dinosaurs. In the prehistoric world Neelakantan and his grandchildren encounter animals that are now extinct, including several species of dangerous dinosaurs. At first they are afraid and struggle to understand what to do. But, gradually they try to be friends with a dinosaurs. They wish to return to the modern times, but for that they would require a source of electricity, which does not exist in the prehistoric times they have been transported to. How they survive their circumstances and finally manage to return to their own age is the main plot of the film.
Adhisaya Ulagam 3D was the first Indian 3D film that featured dinosaurs. The film was shot using a Dual Lens Panasonic 3d Camera. The dinosaurs shown in this film were created using computer animation and graphics, and a total of fifteen species of dinosaurs were depicted. The film was produced under the banners of Tittu Productions – Dreamgate Animation. Shakti Scott, who directed of the film, also composed its music, wrote its screenplay, and handled editing and graphics. Before working on the film, Scott had worked on visual effects in a few films Tamil films including Eeram and Arundathi.
Release and reception
The film was released on 10 August 2012 in India. Before its release, Shakthi Scott promised "surprise elements" in the film. Upon release, Adhisaya Ulagam 3D received negative reviews from critics. The Times of India gave the film one out of five stars, and called it "a bland Jurassic adventure". They described the film plot as a mix of those from Back to the Future and Jurassic Park and found story-telling and the graphic works unimpressive. They wrote, "But when even the five-year-old kids in the theatre get restless, it is a clear sign that the filmmaker has failed as a storyteller." NowRunning criticised the director's film-making, and the movie's story line and graphics. They found the works of the VFX artists "amateurish" and wrote that the film "looks like an unfinished product." Overall, they rated the film "Poor" and gave it half out of five stars, Shakthi Scott participated in a short film making contest conducted by Star World and Steven Spielberg in the year 2007. On the Lot was a single season reality show and online competition for filmmaking, produced by Steven Spielberg, Mark Burnett and David Goffin. Shakthi Scott was selected among 12000 entries and was the only person to be selected from Asia.
Box office
The film had a poor opening at the box office and was a commercial flop. According to Behindwoods, in its Chennai theatrical run from 6 to 12 August 2012, the film collected only and had only 10% theatre occupancy on weekdays.
