We’ve awarded “Robot of the Week” to all kinds of smart machinery for all sorts of reasons, but never for wreaking havoc on one’s fair city. In a first for evil robots everywhere, Chitti has smashed through that barrier (and an entire division of Indian assault officers) to secure this week’s honors. Frankly, we’re afraid to award them to anyone/anything else.
While Chitti is the fictional subject and eventual villain of the Terminator-esque Tamil sci-fi flick Enthiran (it translates simply to “The Robot”), and while it’s not actually real, it is really cool. Since its release in October, Enthiran has been explosively popular on the Indian sub-continent, turning into both the biggest Tamil and the biggest Indian film of all time. Both Stan Winston Studios (of Terminator fame) and Industrial Light and Magic were involved in the production, and yes, the English dub (and the 3-D version) is in the works.
The plot revolves around a scientist who creates an artificially intelligent robot and then (spoiler!) loses control of it (both scientist and superbot are played by Tamil superstar Rajinikanth). Don’t believe the hype? Withhold judgment until you’ve seen Chitti’s over-the-top acrobatics and multi-bot configuration combat in the video below. Enthiran no Salvation, but we think you’ll agree it’s at least better than Rise of the Machines.
