When Rajinikanth beat the memes and made history: A look back at India's first motion capture film, 'Kochadaiyaan'

Memes and Rajinikanth jokes (such as the well-known Rajinikanth can count to infinity) have been circulating since the early 2010s and are still quite popular today. By starring in his first full-length motion capture film, which was far more groundbreaking than jokes, the superstar was headed for history.

' Kochadaiyaan ', directed by his daughter, Soundarya R. Ashwin, was not only another film of Rajini but also a bold new step for India in the sphere of cinematic technology, generally belonging to those big Hollywood pictures such as 'Avatar' or 'The Adventures of Tintin'. This was the first instance of motion capture (MOCAP) in India, which requires the actors to wear on-body sensor technology to enable every movement, gesture, and expression to be recaptured digitally. The movie is a story about a king, 'Kochadaiyaan' Ranadhiran of the eighth-century Pandya rule.

This concept horrified the fans, as they feared that the captivating image of Rajinikanth would be washed out by the tech-savvy design. Those behind the scenes were quick enough to put the frenzy to rest, however, by assuring fans that Thalaivar would still act and perform his stunts and that MOCAP would only amplify his performance instead of replacing it.

There was a huge scope behind the scenes. A Hollywood production company, Giant Studios , best known for producing 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Day After Tomorrow', was contracted. A total of eighty cameras captured every action and emotion of Rajinikanth in very minute detail as he wore a skin-fit motion capture suit. The complicated procedure demanded exorbitant precision in the specification of human skeletal parts so as to give way to lifelike digitalized versions.

It was the desire of Soundarya to see her father in memories forever, and so Dr. Murli Manohar , co-producer of the film, invited foreign experts to train the local technicians. The product was filmed in familiar locations such as the Pinewood Studios, located in London, where the original James Bond production was filmed. Due to the collaboration of three studios, including Infinity, Image Matrix, and VTR, 'Kohadaiyaan' was not a mere film; it was an experiment of intermingling Indian narrative and Vanguardian visual experimentation. The expensive and convoluted project was a turning point in the transformation of Indian cinema to high-concept, technology-heavy storytelling. This was also the first of Rajinikanth, besides being a daring move by an entire industry that was itching to progress.

Dr Murli Manohar, the co-producer of Kochadaiyaan, explained that Rajinikanth, dressed in a special body suit, would perform on a motion-capture stage while around 80 cameras would record every movement. He mentioned that the idea behind this approach was to enhance Rajinikanth’s performance and build visuals suitable for a period film—something that couldn’t be achieved through conventional methods.

However, the process was far from simple. It was noted that Giant Studios, a US-based firm, had begun experimenting with motion capture technology as early as 1999, starting with The Lord of the Rings. According to the company's CEO, Candice Alger , the technology used involved hundreds of thousands of lines of code that helped define an actor’s skeleton with scientifically precise detail—considering bone length, density, connectivity, and rotation. These specifications were then adapted to suit the required animation framework.

She went on to explain that filming took place on a specialised motion-capture stage known as “the volume,” where actors wore skin-tight suits embedded with reflective markers. A large number of fixed cameras tracked their movements, while a separate headrig camera captured detailed facial and eye expressions. Alger shared that software enabled the real-time translation of actors' performances onto digital characters. She pointed out that during the making of Tintin, Steven Spielberg could watch performances on stage and simultaneously view the animated characters in their digital environment on a monitor, allowing him to direct the film as if it were a live-action production.

This same technology had also been used by Giant Studios to create digital replicas of soldiers storming beaches in Flags of Our Fathers and to simulate human movement through snow and water in The Day After Tomorrow.

Dr Manohar also stated that when Soundarya expressed her desire to direct Kochadaiyaan, he was keen to support her vision of immortalising her father through the film. A team of Indian technicians was being trained by Hollywood motion capture experts, and much of the film’s digital work was expected to be carried out in London. Three studios—Infinity, Image Matrix, and VTR—were reportedly working together to construct a world of retro fantasy. He revealed that shooting would commence at Pinewood Studios, located southwest of London and known for housing the James Bond films. According to him, Kochadaiyaanwas being envisioned as a grand audio-visual spectacle. While he acknowledged the project’s high costs, he added that the exact technological expenses would become clearer after production wrapped.

India’s growing interest in action and fantasy-driven films, he believed, made animation-related investments viable. Supporting this, it was reported that The Adventures of Tintinhad been released in India six weeks ahead of its US release and had earned ₹21 crore within the first 17 days—making it the highest-grossing animated film in India. The country was being seen as a valuable market not only for audiences but also for skilled technicians, with several international producers outsourcing VFX work to Indian studios.

NR Panicker, chairman of Accel Animation Studios in Thiruvananthapuram—India’s only studio offering motion capture (MOCAP) services—shared that they had used MOCAP techniques sparingly in Enthiran , and a more advanced application was likely in Kochadaiyaan. He was awaiting the arrival of Paris-based director Fred Fougea, who planned to use their facility for his upcoming animated feature Why I Did Not Eat My Father.

An ongoing debate around MOCAP questioned whether it should be classified as acting or animation. Though Avatar received nine Academy Award nominations, none were for its actors. Candice Alger argued that motion capture did not diminish acting in any way. She pointed out that Spielberg had specifically wanted believable, human characters in Tintin, which the technology successfully delivered.

Spielberg, in an interview, dismissed this debate, stating that the technique created a kind of intimacy that only actors and directors with experience in live theatre could truly understand.