Kicking butt in Kollywood

Remember Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Terminator — one of the most successful franchisee movies in the history of Hollywood?


Well, the last one in the series was The Terminator 3 —The Rise of the Machines, after which Arnold retired from movies when he became the Governor of California.

Now, six years later, an all new Terminator 4 — Salvation: The Future Begins is to be released in Hollywood in the summer of 2009. And the man who is going to step into the shoes of Arnold is Roland Kickinger, who will play the role of Cyborg T-800 made famous by the former action hero.

Last week, Roland Kickinger, a body builder from Vienna who has won the Mr Universe title and migrated to Hollywood, was in Vagamon, a beautiful forest in Kerala.

He was playing villain and grappling with Kollywood’s rising action hero Jayam Ravi in S P Jhananathan directed Ayngaran International’s Peraanmai. Kickinger has already done about 20 movies in Hollywood and his big ticket to superstardom is Terminator 4.

So, why should a big star like Kickinger come to Vagamon? Explains S P Jhananathan, the director of Peraanmai, “A few months back, producer Arun Pandian and I went to Los Angeles and met Rolland Kickinger and his agent, Jack. When they heard our narration of the script and his role, he said he could spare 20 days for the shoot.”

Jhananathan explains that in the film, Kickinger plays an international terrorist and a gun runner who infiltrates into the country through a forest. He faces the fury of a tribal leader and forest guard, played by Jayam Ravi, and five NCC women cadets.

The director, visibly impressed by the cooperation extended to the crew by the Hollywood star, says, “Kickinger plays the main villain along with Siso, another actor from Hollywood. In two days time, they acquainted themselves with our style of functioning and were ready to do action scenes Kollywood style, as we don’t have the kind of equipment Hollywood crews use for such stunt scenes. Rolland cooperated with us and in fact helped stunt master M S Michael choreograph the action sequences more convincingly.”

Kickinger also did not make any fuss about his stay or the tough terrain and shooting conditions at Vagamon. He stayed at a local resort and survived on oats, egg whites, grilled chicken or tinned salmon without salt or any spices and lots of English vegetables and mineral water.

Added Jhananathan, “He was totally disciplined and a complete professional. He even tried out our idli and chutney on the sets. The action scenes will be the highlight of the film and they are awesome.” During the shoot, Kickinger gave Ravi some valuable tips on body building and how to do action scenes convincingly. He was impressed with Ravi’s dedication and professionalism and the way he took care of his body.

When he bid adieu to the unit, his parting words were, “I had a blast shooting for an Indian film. It was a great learning experience.”