The reel's not over just yet

Though sequels to blockbuster films are sporadic in Tamil cinema, they usually are made years after the first part and it is very unlikely that a Tamil director starts a film with a sequel in his mind.

But, things are changing; it’s a season where filmmakers come with bound scripts for the second part, even while they begin their first one. Sequels are now being planned, something that’s not typical of K’town. The examples are umpteen.

Baahubali 2 hit the screens recently, Enthiran’s sequel will next have a jaw-dropping opening, Kamal Haasan has resumed his works on Viswaroopam 2, The latest one to join this list is STR-Adhik Ravichandran’s film Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangathavan, which will be made in two parts. In all these cases, the sequels were planned while the makers were filming the first part. They have started to use the concept of ‘film series’ to show they are serious about the craft. The actors and directors tell DC as to why their films needed a second part although it becomes risky at times.

Talking about the idea of sequel to AAA, Adhik says, “Initially, I did not have the idea of making it in in two parts. It was STR sir who asked whether everything I narrated including the four characters can be put into the first part. He suggested dividing it into two parts.

The producer and I said we could package it in one. But after completing the first schedule — Madura Michael and Ashwin Thatha portions — we felt it had a lot of content. In a brainstorming session, we came up with a new angle to the story and hence took a call to go for a second part. We have solid portions of second part shot already and STR will have lean look in it.”        

Adhik feels franchises are sometimes forced and as a result the responses from the audience may not be favourable. “For AAA, we got the sequel concept during the flow of shooting. So, it will have a natural feel instead of feeling forced. There’s a continuity of the sequences in the second installment as well.”

At a time when producers were often reluctant to announce the number of instalments a movie would take up, the trend was started by Kamal who announced Vishwaroopam 2, even as the first part was being released.
He had said that he was sure from the beginning that he would make a second part too. “I don’t make films for publicity, I want my film to be enjoyed by my audiences. I had written the film in two parts and wanted to tell the complete story,” said Kamal, who also directs the movie.

Kamal had revealed then that the second part of Vishwaroopam is both a sequel and a prequel, it will focus on the romantic and emotional quotients and will be technically more advanced.

We all have witnessed the mammoth success of the second instalment of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali recently. Reasoning out his decision of making his films in two parts Rajamouli said, “The story about two warring brothers for a kingdom is so big that one part was not enough. We can’t stretch it after a point. We tried, but we were losing some of the emotional quotient, so we planned to go for a sequel from the beginning itself. We also shot some of the portions of the second part during the filming of the first part”.

Dhanush and director Vetri Maaran announced that Vada Chennai would be a trilogy on the first day of its shoot. In an earlier interview to DC, Vetri Maaran had said, “The movie spans over 30 years and has extreme details and descriptions which cannot be told in a single film.” Reacting to a query on whether the first part would end with a cliffhanger he said, “I am treating this as an individual film and shooting it like that.”