Dusky bombshell Deepika Padukone's skin tone will be digitally darkened by a shade to match her superstar co-star Rajinikanth's look in the upcoming Kochadaiyaan. The decision was necessary to suit the performance capture technology that will be used to film Kochadaiyaan, a 3D spectacular. For ideal results, the technology demands that the hero and the heroine share a certain similarity by way of looks in the frames they share.

The performance capture technology was notably used by Steven Spielberg in his last year's blockbuster, The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn. Spielberg's 3D adventure was shot using human actors and then the performance capture technology was used to render an animation feel to the scenes.

Kochadaiyaan will also be made in the same way. While it is commonplace in commercial cinema for actresses to abundantly use greasepaint for a fairer look, this must be the first time that a heroine has agreed to go a shade darker in appearance. Rajinikanth's younger daughter Soundarya, who makes her debut as a director with the film, took the final call on darkening Deepika's skin tone after the Bollywood superstar underwent an important screen test in Chennai.

"Performance capture is a very different technology than what has traditionally been used for filmmaking and requires certain modifications that may seem unusual otherwise. Matching Deepika's complexion with Rajinikanth's was one such step," a source close to the film's unit revealed. Rajinikanth is known to be secretive about his projects while they are being shot but reports suggest the high-voltage period epic will depict the exploits of the eighth- century Pandyan emperor Kochadaiyaan Ranadhiran.

A reason why the performance capture technology will be used is Rajinikanth's health. The 61 year old superstar, who only recently returned to the studios after a long bout of illness, may not be physically fit to perform all the stunts himself. Kochadaiyaan has been in the news ever since Soundarya announced the project in November last year on Twitter. Her announcement came a few months after Rana, an earlier project Rajini was supposed to do with Deepika, was shelved owing to his failing health.

Speculations were soon rife over who Rajinikanth's heroine in Kochadaiyaan would be. While Tamil superstar Anushka Shetty's name initially did the rounds, the names of Vidya Balan and Asin were also circulated. Finally, it was said Soundarya was keen to have Katrina Kaif on board. Katrina, however, couldn't allot the required dates and Deepika bagged the film, reportedly after aggressive lobbying.

Deepika will join the cast of the film in London over the next month or so to shoot a couple of romantic numbers composed by A. R. Rahman. A highlight of the film being touted is a taandav sequence filmed on Rajini, which will also be digitally tweaked. The first look of the film was leaked online sometime ago and Kochadaiyaan is scheduled to release in Tamil and the dubbed Hindi version in August this year.