Aishwarya Rajinikanth reveals 21 days of footage of Lal Salaam was lost: ‘It was a huge compromise’

Aishwarya Rajinikanth is opening up about her last release Lal Salaam.

The sports drama, featuring Rajinikanth in an extended cameo and Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth in lead roles, did not perform as per expectations at the box office. Now, speaking with Cinema Vikatan, Aishwarya has revealed how they had lost 21 days of footage and had to re-edit some portions.

What Aishwarya said
In the interview, Aishwarya said, “It is true that we lost a lot of footage. We were shocked that something like this could even happen. It was about 21 days of footage. I should say it happened because of irresponsibility, which was unfortunate. We had shot a cricket match, and it was a ten-camera set-up. We wanted to shoot it like it was a real cricket match. We missed the footage of all the twenty cameras. We didn’t know what to do.”

She added that the team had to take the hard decision not to re-shoot it and edited with the surviving footage. “The problem was everyone including Vishnu, Senthil, and Appa also changed their get-up. So, we couldn’t reshoot it. In the end, we re-edited the film with whatever was left. It was challenging. Though Vishnu and Appa were cooperative and ready to do it again, we couldn’t shoot all of it again. It was a huge compromise,” she said.

About the film
Lal Salaam stars Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth, who are seen as rivals since they were kids. Rajinikanth is seen as Moideen Bhai in the film. An excerpt from the Hindustan Times review of the film read, “Rajinikanth essays beautifully the dual role of a father, who has aspirations for his son, and a community leader, who believes that all people are one irrespective of religion or caste. He is measured in his actions and even the fight scenes are not over-the-top. Rajinikanth is the backbone of Lal Salaam.”