The 1990 Mammootty-starrer Samrajyam which told the story of the powerful gangster Alexander, is back. This time, it will be his son Jordan who will carry on his winning reign.
The sequel titled Samrajyam II: Son of Alexander directed by Kollywood’s hitmaker Perarasu, will hit the marquee this weekend. “Samrajyam II will be a revenge story that has traversed generations. The story will revolve around Jordan’s vendetta and whether there will be a full stop to it,” says the director about his first M-Town outing.
Unni Mukundan will play Jordan, son of Alexander. “Jordan is a gang leader but doesn’t have any allies. He in himself is a one-man army,” says Perarasu.
From the first movie, only two characters will reprise in their respective roles in Samrajyam II. DIG Balakrishnan portrayed by Madhu and Khadir, right hand of Alexander, played by Vijayaraghavan.
Ask the director who has given hits like Vijay’s Thirupaachi, Sivakasi and Ajith’s Thirupathi, about how a Malayalam movie happened, he says, “ Ajmal Hassan who produced Samrajyam approached two years back and had the idea of making a sequel. I had seen the movie before and loved it but was doubtful about working in Malayalam industry. But, after much research on how commercial films in Malayalam work, I sat down to write the story accordingly.”
Perarasu is known for his action-packed sequences with punch dialogues, raunchy stunts and peppy songs. But the director says Samrajyam II will be a different movie with a stylised cast with a treatment at par with English movies. “It will be a mass entertainer but with a controlled direction where there will be heroism but weaved with brilliance,” says Perarasu about his first mafia movie.
The director who has penned the story, also observes Tamil movies has no nativity. “Tamil films being a big hit in Kerala is a natural process but Malayalam film taken as a Tamil movie will never work. Tamil films has no nativity, the same plot works out in Bollywood, Sandalwood and Tollywood,” he says.
New face Akansha Puri will play the love interest of Unni Mukundan in the movie. “She plays Asha and is a bold character,” he adds. The rest of the cast includes Manoj K Jayan as a police officer, Devan, Riyas Khan, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Kalshala Babu.
Perarasu who has made movies like Dharmapuri, Thiruvanamalai, Pazhani, is also known for his fetish for naming his films after a place. “My first movie name Thirupaachi in 2005 was a natural choice. It became a big hit, then the second movie Sivakasi again with Vijay, repeated the success. By that time an image of a director who gave his films place name was affixed on me. And, with Ajith’s Thirupathi, the producer asked for it,” says Perarasu who is also nicknamed as ‘Uruarasu’.
Unlike his commercial entertainers, Perarasu has always wished to make a love story. “I have not made any film of my liking till date. For three years I knocked at the doors of actors and producers with a drama but at that time the industry wanted commercial stories. And, hence I ended up doing mass films back to back,” says Perarasu.