Creative director Shankar and Universal Hero Kamal Haasan’s most awaited pan-Indian film Indian 2 / Bharateeyudu 2 is under a huge mess. The film is a sequel to the classical blockbuster, Indian/Bharateeyudu, which was the first South Indian 50 cr+ grosser back in 1996. The film is facing multiple delays and this is causing frustration to the unit and the audience. The film was launched in January 2019. There were lot of gaps between the shooting schedules due to the budget issues. The market for Kamal Haasan is not as high as it was when Indian, part 1, was filmed. So, budget was readjusted many times. As a result, DOP Ravi Varman walked out of the project due to committments and was replaced by Rathnavelu.
Shooting went smoothly in 2019 as the team shot the film in places such as Chennai, Bhopal, and Rajahmundry in 2019. While shooting was taking place in 2020, the team faced another hurdle. There was a massive accident in EVP Film City, Chennai. 3 Assistant directors were dead. After that, shooting didn’t start again due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, there is no clarity either from Lyca Productions or from director Shankar. Even Kamal Haasan seems to be focusing on his political career. The buzz is that Lyca Productions is running out of money as they have started another big pan-Indian film, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan. The latest rumor is that Rathnavelu has walked out of the movie. The biggest question is whether the film will release in theaters or not. Even Kamal Haasan is contributing to the delay as he has not given continuous dates for the film.
The delay is a bad omen for the film as many caste and crew members are leaving the film. It’s also frustrating for Shankar as he spent years and years for 2.0, a science fiction film and now he is spending a lot of time for a message oriented entertainer. Director Shankar never imagined that he would be in such a tough position. He has also started pre-production work for his next film. He is waiting for clarity from Lyca as he wants to move on if the film doesn’t start any time soon. The film may start after TN elections but as of now , there is no word from Lyca, Kamal, or Shankar. Hope more clarity is given about these rumors in upcoming days and the film gets completed smoothly.
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