Sequels have become the order of the day. When director Venkat Prabhu started working on a sequel to his 2007 hit, Chennai 600028, probably the only query that would have been in everyone’s minds was why it took him so long. The original not only wowed the audience but also catapulted a set of newcomers to fame, including the director’s brother Premgi Amaren.
Prabhu maintains that Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings is a proper sequel. “There are a few follow-up movies which in no way relate to their forerunners. The same theme or pattern prevails, but there is no continuation of the story. In the sequel, the players are now married and the story is about how they reunite for a cricket match,” says the director who gave the audiences the supernatural action comedy, Massu Engira Masilamani, starring Suriya last year.
So, of course, the audience will get to see Royapuram Rockers and Sharks and their cohorts this time too, Prabhu says. Toeing the original line, the sequel will also revolve around betrayal, friendship, fun, little fights, love and rivalry with a peppering of one-liners.
Besides those who acted in the original, Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings has added some known faces like Abhinay Vaddi, Shanthini, Subbu Panchu, Vaibhav Reddy and Mahat Raghavendra, and a few fresh ones—Anjana, Krithika and Maheshwari Sana.
Rumours of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin making a special appearance in the film are also doing the rounds. “It’s a good idea though Ashwin has not really come on board. Now that the IPL games are over, we can perhaps consider it,” says Prabhu.
Centred round street cricket, Chennai 28 had peppy music to go with it and looks like it is going to be a musical repetition for the sequel. “Yuvan Shankar (Prabhu’s cousin) has, as he had for the original, done his best this time too; a duet and two foot-tapping numbers like Jalsa and Saroja Saman Nikalo. There is a thought of making a promotional song though it is only in deliberation so far,” says Prabhu.
Before he turned director, Prabhu had acted in a few movies besides turning singer for some. The sequel now offers Prabhu an opportunity to wear the producer’s cap. “Though it is my debut in production (courtesy his film banner Black Ticket company), I have many friends who manage my money well. If I ask 50 people for a sequence, they would sanction, say, 30. The rest we make up with the help of bystanders who would have come there to watch the shoot,” says Prabhu laughingly, adding that the only time he feels sad is when he signs cheques. “The budget has gone way up, guess it is destined to go about five or six times over what we had spent for the original.”
The man who wields the megaphone compares his working style to that of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who enjoys the prefix Captain Cool. Prabhu too plays to the strength of his players, err, actors. It is wisdom that the director freely partakes of too. “When I had written the script of Chennai 28, I wanted to give it to a director friend of mine, but friend and producer Charan insisted that I direct,” he says.
Prabhu wishes next to make fantasy films—children’s fantasy, science fiction besides horror that defies logic as well as adventure films. Guess that should keep him busy for a very, very long time.