Cobra (2020 film)

[NiveRoshni]

Cobra is an upcoming Tamil-language supernatural thriller film directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu, and produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar under the banner Seven Screen Studio, starring Vikram, Srinidhi Shetty, Miya and Irfan Pathan. This film marks the Tamil debut of Srinidhi Shetty and the film debut of Irfan Pathan. The music and original score is composed by A. R. Rahman, with cinematography handled by Harish Kannan and edited by Bhuvan Srinivasan.

Cast

Vikram as Madhiazhagan[1]
Srinidhi Shetty as Bhuvana Menon[2][3]
Miya[3]
Irfan Pathan[4]
K. S. Ravikumar[5]
Mohammad Ali Baig[6]
Padmapriya Janakiraman[7]
Kanika[7]
Babu Antony[7]

Vikram as Madhiazhagan[1]
Srinidhi Shetty as Bhuvana Menon[2][3]
Miya[3]
Irfan Pathan[4]
K. S. Ravikumar[5]
Mohammad Ali Baig[6]
Padmapriya Janakiraman[7]
Kanika[7]
Babu Antony[7]
Sarjano Khalid[8][5]
Roshan Mathew[3]
Mirnalini Ravi[9]
Mamukkoya[10]
Renuka[11]
Sindhu Shyam[12]
Robo Shankar[13]
TSR[12]

Production

Vikram to play seven characters in new movie Cobra which is directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu. The sci-fi mystery movie is set for a probable May 2020 release but postponed due to 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The movie poster reveals seven characters all played by Vikram in different looks ranging from a professor and politician to what seems to be a supernatural and scientific mastermind connecting all the different people together in some way.[14] The movie will be produced by Lalit Kumar under Seven Screen Studio jointly with Viacom 18 Studios, the film's musical score is by A R Rahman.

Filming

In October 2019, principal photography commenced under working title "Vikram 58." It was announced to be shot across regions of India.[15] By end November 2019, the second schedule of filming was completed in Kerala.[16] Third filming schedule spread across November–December 2019, scenes film in Chennai. On December 25, 2019, the film was titled "Cobra".[17] The team titled the film 'Cobra' because it resembles the pivotal character of a cobra snake.[18] Filming entered in its fourth schedule in Kolkata by mid-January 2020.[19] Mirnalini Ravi filmed through the fourth schedule; and this was the last filming schedule for Pathan. Sarjano Khalid was brought as a replacement for Shane Nigam.[20][20] In January 2020, the film release date was locked for Eid Al-Fitr weekend; falling on May 22, 2020.[21] Filming continued in Chennai in February 2020, the crew spotted once at Ramee Mall.[22] By early March 2020, filming started in Russia and planned to continue filming during pandemic.[23][24] However, due to rapid spread of the COVID-19, the crew halted filming and returned India.[25] By mid-March 2020, the film completed 90 days of filming, 25 percent of pendency.

Music

The music and original score for the film are composed by A. R. Rahman.[26] Rahman's inclusion in the project was announced in October 2019 and Sony Music acquired the film's audio rights.[27]

"Thumbi Thullal", served as the first single which was released onto digital download platforms on June 29, 2020 .[28] Gnanamuthu mentioned he wanted the track to have celebratory tunes with lyrics that have "a deeper meaning and are emotional". "Thumbi Thullal" was the first song composed.[29] Nakul Abhyankar provided male vocals on track. He worked on Cobra's soundtrack and sang chorus portions of the songs until the male charanam.[30] As per him, the vocal harmony was recorded to sound like "gumbala paadara maadhihri irukkanum".[30] Initially, the track was recorded with gibberish and hummings.[30] The lyrics were penned later. For the Malayalam lyrics, Jithin Raj brainstormed with the team (Rahman, Vivek and Gnanamuthu) who briefed him to centralise lyrics on a festival theme. Later, he was called to record vocals in Malayalam.[31]

The track spans around 4 minutes and half more; is spaced with orchestral strings, the score transcriptions were written by Shubham Bhat.[32] The improvised nadaswaram notes written were based on composition by Sheik Chinna Moulana.[32] Further, prominent instruments on the track are flute, sitar, thavil and continuum.