“It was Kamal Haasan who was my first choice to play the villain of 2.0,” revealed filmmaker Shankar whose magnum opus, starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, is all set for release 29 November.
The filmmaker, who recently interacted with a publication, dropped a lot of hints about the film which is one of the most anticipated flicks of this year.
He said, “When I approached Arnold, he was not ready to play villain. So, I dropped the idea and moved to Kamal Haasan. But, Kamal was more keen on doing Indian-2 and so that idea also did not work out. Now, we are in the process of doing Indian-2.”
It is said by sources close to the makers that the sequel of Indian will likely take off from the end of 2018.
Speaking about Akshay Kumar, the 2.0 director said, “He is not only just a villain his role has also got a lot of different dimensions. I am sure the audience will like his character.
Talking more about the movie, he said, “Apart from a big budget, its grandeur and VFX, 2.0 will have an emotional story, too. I recommend watching it in 3D to get the full power of the movie.”
When asked about the recent plagiarism issues in Tamil industry, Shankar said, “As far as I know, creators are honest in Kollywood. There have been a lot of complaints in the past, which is nothing new in the industry. Even I faced an issue for Endhiran when a man claimed it was his story. There could be similarities. Say, a rich girl romanced by a poor boy is a similarity that we have seen in hundreds of movies. Can someone claim that to be their story? If a director really wants to make a story of a different writer, he legally can buy the rights. Nanban is a personal example for that.”
Also, he added, a movie is the collective effort of thousands of labourers, and such charges affect everyone of them.
Shankar answered a question on why 24aam Pulikesi was dropped. He said, “There were some differences of opinion between the director (Simbu Devan) and actor (Vadivelu). Even I am an ardent fan of Vadivelu sir, and I, too, have the same expectation to see him again on screen as 24aam Pulikesi and in many other movies.”