Adhisaya Ulagam

Adhisaya Ulagam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shakthi Scott
Written by	Shakthi Scott
Produced by	R. Banuchitra
Starring	J. Livingston Sreelakshmy N. Nair Mannan Prithivraj
Cinematography	Sathish G
Music by	Shakthi Scott
Production companies	Tittu Productions Dreamgate Animation
Release date	10 August 2012 (2012-08-10) (India)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	$20,000
Box office	$9350

Adhisaya Ulagam (transl. World of Wonders) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language science fantasy film written and directed by Shakthi Scott and produced by R. Banuchitra. The film stars J. Livingston, Sreelakshmy N. Nair, and Mannan Prithivraj.

This project, combining animation with live action, is marked as India's first 3D film featuring 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.

Production still from Athisayalokam.

The film was released on 10 August 2012 in India. According to the director, the film received mostly negative reviews, primarily because critics failed to recognize that it was made on a zero budget.

Plot

Professor Neelakantan (J. Livingston) is a maverick Indian scientist and inventor who develops and constructs a time machine and begins experimenting with it. He realizes that his machine requires a recognized "object" to work, so he seeks to locate such an object that can be transported through time. He jokingly tells his pet dog that he would use it as the "object".

Varsha (Sreelakshmy N. Nair) and Vikas (Mannan Prithivraj) are Neelakantan's mischievous grandchildren who live with their parents and are very fond of their grandfather. While visiting, 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 recognizes 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 recognized as an "object" by the machine, and he and his grandchildren 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 befriend the dinosaurs. They wish to return to modern times, but to do this, they need 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.

Cast

• J. Livingston as Neelakantan
• Sreelakshmy N. Nair as Varsha
• Mannan Prithivraj as Vikas
• George Vishnu
• Anandha Kannan
• Latha Rao
• Mannan Prithivraj
• Lena Mohan

Production

"The movie revolves around a scientist who invents a time machine and how his grandchildren accidentally get teleported to the prehistoric era. We have created dinosaurs using computer graphics."

Director Shakthi Scott on 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 15 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, including Eeram and Arundathi.

Release and reception

Professional reviews
Review Scores
Source	Rating
The Times of India

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, saying the director failed as a storyteller and calling 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 the storytelling and 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 criticized the director's filmmaking and the movie's storyline 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 filmmaking 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 Spielberg, Mark Burnett and David Goffin. Shakthi Scott was selected among 12,000 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 ₹700,000 (US$8,400) and had only 10% theatre occupancy on weekdays.

See also

• List of films featuring dinosaurs
• Chhota Bheem and the Throne of Bali