Balakrishna okays sequel, joins Prabhas and Allu Arjun
With the launch of ‘Akhanda 2’, a sequel to his earlier blockbuster ‘Akhanda’, Nandamuri Balakrishna joins the elite club of Prabhas and Allu Arjun. “He is the first senior actor to do a sequel for a film in his 50-year career as an actor. Probably, he found some magic and relevance in the part two script and only then would have agreed to join the sequel bandwagon,” says a distributor.
Earlier, Prabhas tasted success with ‘Baahubali’ and its sequel ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ and paved the way for ‘two part’ movies in Tollywood. Prabhas is also in talks with director Prashanth Neel to make ‘Salaar 2’ since their earlier action-adventure set in fictional Khansar City did some decent business. “Now, Allu Arjun is doing a sequel ‘Pushpa The Rule’ after spinning box office magic with ‘Pushpa The Rise’ and taking the sequels to the next level since this is a much-awaited movie across pan-India,” he points.
Another reigning star JR NTR is also planning to do a sequel to ‘Devara’, although the earlier version worked wonders only in Telugu states and in some centres in the Hindi heartland. “More sequels are bound to happen since there is a dearth of new stories for superstars. So, to repeat a successful franchise it is bound to trigger a lot of interest among fans and viewers. However, a lot depends on the success of ‘Pushpa The Rule’ set for release in December. Its performance at the box office would determine the continuation of a two-part mania in Tollywood," he concludes.