UI (film)

Upendra conceived the story for UI in the mid-2000s. This was his eleventh film as a director and first since Uppi 2 (2015).[4] The theme and storyline of the film was not revealed by the makers to the media even during the final filming stages of UI; they maintained that it was an "entertaining subject yet it tackles a significant global issue."[5] In an interview to Bangalore Times in June 2023, Upendra mentioned that "With UI, I want to build a totally different world visually. It will be 'surrealistic'".[6] A report stated that the film was reportedly made at a budget of ₹100 crore.[1]

The film was launched on 3 June 2022, and the makers revealed the meaning of the title UI to be the mark worn on forehead. G. Manoharan's Lahari Films and K. P. Sreekanth's Venus Enterrtainers were reported to produce the film.[7] It was also reported that, alongside Kannada, the film would be released in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam. Actor Murali Sharma was reported to be a part of the film's cast when the film was announced in June 2022.[4] A month later, actress Nidhi Subbaiah's signing was reported.[8] However, until November 2022, no other members of the cast were officially confirmed by the makers. However, it was speculated that Sunny Leone was a part of the cast.[9] Reeshma Nanaiah's role too was speculated,[10] and was a confirmed a few months later.

A May 2023 report revealed that Leone and Nanaiah had been cast, alongside Murali Krishna and Indrajit Lankesh, and that B. Ajaneesh Loknath would compose the film's music. Shivakumar, who had previously worked in KGF film series and Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire, was hired as art director for the film.[5] Deepu S. Kumar served as the film's editor,[11] and Prajwal as the cinematographer.[10] In June, it was reported that actress Veena Ponnappa, who previously appeared in Vedha (2022), was cast.[12]

A co-producer of the film, Naveen Manohar, who contributed also on the technical front in the film's making, stated that the film features an entire city set, spanning 10 acres in area, complemented by extensive visual effects set extensions. He further elaborated on the visual effects, revealing that the team had created a unique world within the film, comprising over 1,400 VFX shots, and that the film incorporated various cutting-edge technologies, such as VR-Mocobot. He added that 3D scanning of Upendra was made using a setup of more than 200 DSLR cameras to create his CGI double.[5] It was reportedly the Asian film to use this technology.[1] Manohar also revealed that an entire sequence was shot using a virtual reality pipeline.[5] Creation technology of Industrial Light & Magic, which was previously employed in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), was also used in the film.[13][14] Filming locations included Bengaluru, Mysore and Hyderabad.[14]

Filming for UI completed in early August 2023, with a song sequence left pending to be shot in October that year. It was reported that Upendra also assisted in editing, which would take a month's time, before the dubbing process.[11] Dubbing began in late August with Upendra voicing for the film's Kannada and Telugu versions.[3]