Boom Time For Sequels In Kollywood!

In Hollywood, it is quite common for the filmmakers to make sequels or add a 2nd part to a film some time after it is released. The practice is not totally new to Tamil cinema, but it is not so common here. The 1979 blockbuster “Kalyanaraman” was followed by “Japanil Kalyanaraman” in 1985 by SP Muthuraman. But this did not generate a sequel wave in the film industry and the film itself was not exactly a hit at the BO. Selva’s “Naan Avan Illai-2” was a sequel to his own 2007 film but proved to be a dud. For reasons unknown, the Tamil audience has not taken well to sequels till now. “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones”, “James Bond”, “Harry Potter”, “Spider-Man”, “Batman” etc. were successful Hollywood franchises based on the protagonists’ heroism and charisma. Kamal’s “Vishwaroopam 2” is 90% complete. But the producer Aascar Ravichandran’s financial situation has shelved the project for the time being. “Vishwaroopam” was a hit and so, Kamal Haasan plans to buy and release the sequel himself. But this has yet to be officially confirmed. “Endhiran 2” is going to be made with a budget 3 times that of the prequel by Shankar. Shankar will be the director of the sequel too. “Endhiran”, the 2nd highest grosser amongst South Indian films. Arnold Schwarzenegger is to play the villain in “Endhiran2” which will be funded by Lyca International. Shooting for the sequel will start in early 2016. “Baahubali”, the highest ever grosser in South India, will have its sequel “Baahubali2” soon. Shooting will start in December and its director Rajamouli has said that the sequel will release by the end of 2016. “Singam 3” from Suriya and Hari is the 3rd in line of the “Singam” series which proved to be blockbuster hits. “Singam3” has Shruti Haasan playing an important role and sources say that “Singam3” will not be a continuation of Singam2. Lingusamy is toying with the idea of “Sandakozhi2” with Vishal as the earlier “Sandakozhi” was a super hit. The buzz is that AR Murugadoss and Vijay are keen to do a sequel to “Thuppakki” the slick action thriller. Most probable sequels in the pipeline still in the nascent stage include “Chandramukhi”, “Chennai-28”, “Mankatha”, “Ghilli”, “VTV”, “Manmadhan” and a few others. Looks like boom time has begun for sequels in Kollywood!