Marvel Comics character Shang-Chi recently made a rousing live-action big-screen debut with ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ starring Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu, who has now become a household name courtesy of the film’s global success. At the time of writing this article, the film has grossed north of a massive $160 million globally and is currently rated at an impressive 92% by Rotten Tomatoes based on 265 reviews.
The critical and commercial success of an Asian-origin superhero film makes one more confident about the prospect of a movie being made based on the first Indian superhero. An interesting character created by legendary comic book writer Stan Lee along with Sharad Devarajan (CEO of Liquid Comics) and Gotham Chopra (son of famous author Deepak Chopra).
‘Chakra’ was originally portrayed as a Mumbai-based young boy named Raju Rai, who is given an advanced technological suit by his mentor scientist. A suit that is able to weaponize all mystical chakras in the human body. The boy uses his newly found superpowers to defend his city from super-villains. A 65-minute animated film titled ‘Chakra: The Invincible’ was made on the subject that was directed by Sharad Devarajan.
Then, in the year 2016, Stan Lee had expressed an interest to make a live-action superhero film on ‘Chakra’ in collaboration with Phantom Films, which was owned by Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl, and Madhu Mantena. The film was supposed to be helmed by ‘Lootera’ director Vikramaditya Motwane. However, in 2018, the production company dissolved, and the same year saw the unfortunate demise of Stan Lee. So, the project apparently got shelved.
We believe now is the best time to revive the Indian-origin superhero movie ‘Chakra’ as it has immense potential to be another Asian superhero blockbuster considering the worldwide acceptance and critical & commercial success of the Asian-origin superhero story ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’.
We say so because the box-office potential for Marvel-based movies in India itself cannot be underestimated. The big-screen collections for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and its sequel ‘Avengers: Endgame’ had grossed a whopping Rs.230 crores and Rs.375 crores, respectively besides massive OTT viewership for these titles. Moreover, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ has already grossed more than Rs.18 crores in India itself, which is impressive considering the rampant pandemic situation.
It’s high time that the Marvel top brass and Vikramaditya Motwane revive the ambitious project and collaborate for a big-budget live-action Indian-origin superhero movie ‘Chakra’. Mr. Kevin Fiege, the ball is in your court now.