Let’s make ‘King Conan’: Arnie to Shankar

Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was in Chennai on Monday as the chief guest for the audio launch of magnum opus ‘I’, said he would love to work with its director Shankar someday.

Schwarzenegger even gave the film an imaginary title ‘King Conan’, inspired from the film franchise ‘Conan the Barbarian’ and ‘Conan the Destroyer’.

“Shankar is a great filmmaker. He comes up with superb special effects in his films. I would love to work with him someday. Let’s make ‘King Conan’, Shankar,” Schwarzenegger said.

The makers of the film organised a special bodybuilding act featuring a dozen local bodybuilders as a tribute to Arnold, who is a bodybuilding legend.

The ‘Terminator’ star, who watched in awe, congratulated all of them. He was also happy that Shankar had featured them in the film.

“It’s great to see all this talent. It reminds me of my earlier days. It’s wonderful that Shankar has given them a chance to star in the movie,” he said.

In the film, Vikram plays a bodybuilder, who aspires to win the Mr Tamil Nadu title. Superstar Rajinikanth, the other special guest, was moved by Vikram’s commitment towards the film. He said that no actor could sacrifice as much as him for a character. Vikram spent over two years working for the film and he gained and lost considerable amount of weight to play his characters in the film.

“Vikram has dedicated his life for this film. Hats off to his commitment. I don’t think you could find an actor who has sacrificed so much for a character in Indian cinema as well as Hollywood. I wish the film all success,” Rajinikanth said.

Rajinikanth also appreciated filmmaker Shankar for making ‘I’. “What do I say about Shankar? It’s been two decades since he entered the Tamil film industry. He’s climbing up with every film. ‘I’ will take him to the pinnacle. But I know this won’t be the end because he will continue making films that will supersede his own work,” he said.

“He’d always complain and wonder why we can’t make films on par with Hollywood. His aim has always been to take Tamil cinema to global standards. He does all this not just for money, but because cinema is his passion. He’s the real cinema Indian,” he added.