King with mane)[5] is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language animated period action film[6] written by K. S. Ravikumar and directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth.

It is India's first photorealistic motion capture film, featuring characters whose designs were based on the appearance and likeness of their respective actors.

The film stars Rajinikanth with Deepika Padukone (in her Tamil debut) and Shobana in the lead, Meanwhile R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi Pinisetty, Jackie Shroff, Nassar and Rukmini Vijayakumar had also voiced their respective characters.

The film was the result of a complex development process, starting with the director's idea of directing and co-producing Sultan: The Warrior with Eros International in 2007, which was to feature Rajinikanth as an animated character.

[7] After cancelling the project due to lack of financial support,[8] Soundarya and Eros turned their attention to producing Rana, which was to be a live-action historical fiction film directed by Ravikumar starring Rajinikanth and Padukone.

[14] Kochadaiiyaan was promoted as "a tribute to the centennial of Indian cinema" and released worldwide in 3D and for traditional viewing on 23 May 2014 in Tamil and five additional languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi and Punjabi.

The boy soon meets with an accident while rowing in the river and is eventually discovered by some fishermen from the neighbouring kingdom of Kalingapuri, a rival of Kottaipattinam.

Rana also reunites with his younger sister Yamuna Devi whom he last saw as a baby and their uncle, who raised her, but soon learns that his mother Yaaghavi is dead and Sena is missing.

In present, Rana tells Vadhana that he ran away to Kalingapuri, with the intention of freeing the soldiers of Kottaipattinam and to take revenge on Rishikodagan for unjustly killing his father.

[30][31] On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement.

[41] Despite reports that Kaif was finalised,[42] Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.

[53] The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi Pinisetty, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam and Eeram, in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was "a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood".

[97][98] The soundtrack and background score of the film was composed by A. R. Rahman, who was initially hesitant to work on the project but started after he felt the "positive energy and the commitment".

[101] The track "Engae Pogudho Vaanam" was released on 7 October 2013 as a single, along with its Telugu version "Choodham Aakasam Antham" to positive response.

[111] Furthermore, producer Sunanda Murali Manohar attributed the delay to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which unexpectedly went on to certify all language versions separately.

[122] The first teaser trailer was released digitally on 9 September 2013, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi[123] to mixed response; while fans of Rajinikanth were satisfied, others criticised it for its "poor visual effects".

[124] It was also noted for its similarities to the teaser trailer of Soundarya's shelved animation venture Sultan the Warrior, that was also supposed to feature Rajinikanth.

[138] iPlay's director Rave Shankar and his team had approached the film's producers to screen the theatrical trailer in 5-D format at Phoenix Market City Mall in Velachery, Chennai.

[140] The experience for viewers was defined such that the chairs quake and rumble as the scenes of war appear and wet sprays are sprinkled on the audience when the character Kochadaiiyaan rides on a dolphin in the trailer.

However, its Tamil version has the potential to prove a big hit because of the demi-God status enjoyed by Rajinikanth among the Tamil-speaking audience and also due to the novelty factor.

"[146] Critical review board of Behindwoods assigned a score of 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Soundarya and team have taken a brave first step and we only have to hope that future attempts in this line, have incremental improvements.

"[147] Critic at Sify praised the director Soundarya Rajinikanth's work stating, "It is a testament to one girl's ambition, imagination and courage to make India's first photo-realistic, 3D."

[148] At Deccan Chronicle, Thinkal Menon gave the film 3.5 stars (out of 5) and stated, "Unsurprisingly, the brand name 'Rajini' has proved for the umpteenth time that his face value alone could carry a movie on his shoulders.

"[150] Ritika Handoo of Zee News gave the film 3.5 stars (out of 5) and felt, "After watching a folklore turned into a 3D computer-animated photo-realistic motion picture format, all we can say is – this is a tribute to 'Thalaiva'!

"[155] At The Indian Express critic Shubhra Gupta summarised in negative—"Even Rajinikanth, the one and the only, can't pick up a film and run with it, if it has the oldest, creakiest plots cobbled together from many books."

"[157] Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film 1 star out of 5 and ranted, "Rajinikanth's Kochadaiiyaan is a bad puppet show, alas, is a fundamentally flawed dud, one without anything to applaud besides grand (if self-glorifying) ambition.

[159] Sneha May Francis, writing for Emirates 24/7, praised the film stating, "Despite the lack of technical finesse, the filmmaker deserves to be applauded for taking a step towards innovation and change, and setting the ground work for Rana".

He added, "I've been waiting for Kochadaiiyaan for years, since the film was a rumor, but with all of the hype, delays, and eventual disappointing final product, I feel that my enthusiasm was at best wasted and at worst betrayed.

"[161] Abraham Richard of Times of Oman felt, "Despite the technical flaws Rajni and Soundarya deserve to be applauded for their daring effort and initiative for trying to push the industry to the next level.

[168] it had bumper opening weekend and grossed but the hype slowly faded and the film eventually bombed at the box office leaving distributors in huge loss.