‘I miss writer Sujatha; he was like father to me,' reveals Indian 2 director Shankar

28 years ago, came a film called Indian that blew the audiences away not just because of its theme but more so because of Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan’s stellar performance as an aged vigilante and director Shankar’s story. Cut to 2024, and Indian 2 is up for release on July 12 and this time it’s bigger and Senapathy (Kamal Haasan) takes on corruption across India, not just Tamil Nadu. (Also read: Kamal Haasan clarifies he ‘likes Indian 3 more': Not that I don't like Indian 2)

'Like a father'

In recent days, there is a lot of chatter on social media about writer Sujatha and how Shankar’s work with him was always stellar. The Boys director was well-known for his collaboration with writer Sujatha and the two delivered blockbusters like Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian and Enthiran (Robot). Unfortunately, Sujata passed away in 2008 and since then Shankar has worked with numerous writers. For Indian 2, Shankar has worked with Jeyamohan, Kabilan Vairamuthu and Lakshmi Saravana Kumar. When Hindustan Times asked him if he missed writer Sujatha, he said, “Of course! He was like a father to me and he treated me like his son. He is always missed.”

In Indian 2, there is an ensemble cast other than Kamal Haasan and it includes SJ Suryah, Siddharth, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh and Priya Bhavani Shankar. Given how cinema has changed since Indian came out in 1996 and women play more impactful roles on screen, what about the women in Indian 2? Shankar replied, “Each of them has strong, impactful roles and they will raise their voice (in the film). Kajal appears in Indian 3 though.”

How Indian 2 came to be

When asked how director Shankar decided to do a sequel to this film, he replied, “There was no plan to make Indian 2 at all. However, over the years as I kept reading news reports, I used to think that Senapathy needed to come back but the film materialised only now. There was no idea to make Indian 3 either but the theme of corruption is pan-Indian and I couldn’t do justice to it in 2.5 hours. Thus, there is an Indian 3.” The 2.0 director stated that corruption as a theme was relevant even today and his idea was to make a film that would reach the message across to the audience. “I don’t think there will be a change overnight but there will be an impact on people,” he added.

Indian 2 will release in cinemas this Friday on July 12.