Be it the 30-minute teaser or the 2.5-minute trailer of Singam II — both show a fierce Suriya hollering at villains and bashing them up. But the director says that’s not everything.
“Of the total two-and-half hours of the film, the fight sequences and songs are only for 40 minutes. Apart from these, Singam II will be a realistic story with an interesting narration,” says Hari, about the sequel to his 2010-cop film (Singam) which hits the screens worldwide this Friday.
Yet, Hari justifies having intense fight sequences and lengthy dialogue deliveries in the film and says it’s all in the game. “They might look dramatic in the trailer, but you won’t find those portions odd when you see them as part of the film,” he says.
While actors Suriya, Anushka and Vivek have reprised their roles in the sequel, there are new additions like Hansika, Santhanam along with Hollywood star Danny Sapani. “Singam did well not just in Tamil, but also in Telugu, Hindi and in Bengali. So, we decided that the plot for Singam II should be bigger than Singam in order to appeal to audiences of all kinds. So, we have given the hero more challenging tasks in the sequel. That’s why there are Mukesh Rishi and Danny Sapani. One thing I’m happy about Singam II is that the producers watched the film and said they couldn’t guess the second half. That’s what I expected,” he says.
Hari says he didn’t have a sequel in mind once he was through with Singam, but adds that he wanted to do a sequel to a cop film right from the time he directed Saamy, in which actor Vikram played a cop.
“I always feel that a cop’s life has different episodes — dealing with one complaint after another. But for Singam, I never thought I would direct a sequel. But almost everyone who spoke to me after watching the film asked me when I would direct a sequel. Suriya too told me that. And then I mulled over it and came up with a definitive script. So, Singam II will be like the second half of Singam,” says Hari.
The director, who has 12 films to his credit, has already started working on his next flick, which will be an action-emotional drama and will have none other than actor Suriya’s brother Karthi in the lead role.