I make films the way I would like to watch them, says director Shankar

CHENNAI: Shankar’s office looks nothing less than a robotics lab. There is Chitti on one side and Chitti 2.0 on the other. He walks between them, like the typical larger-than-life hero introductions in his movies. With Indian 2 set to release today, he looks back and says, “When we made Indian in 1996, we never thought we would make Indian 2. Now here we are with Indian 2 and even Indian 3. Things have changed a lot since the first instalment. We took references from Kamal Haasan’s family-- how his father looked when he aged and freedom fighters. The prosthetics were heavier. However, despite the prosthetic getting thinner, it still took four hours for Kamal sir to get the make-up done. He was the first to arrive on the sets and the last to leave. At this age, what he has done is commendable.”

Shankar has worked on back-to-back sequels of Enthiran’s 2.0 and now Indian franchise’s Indian 2. Moreover, his films are known for open endings. “I don’t make sequels because the first part has an open ending or let’s put it this way, I don’t leave an open ending because I would want to make a sequel,” and discusses in the background about the climax of Sivaji The Boss, Anniyan, and Enthiran. We remind him that despite the therapies, Anniyan is still around and kills the lineman in the last scene of the film. “Again. I had written a lot of climax sequences for Anniyan. One of them was Ramanujam aka Ambi starting over in a new city and travelling on a bike. But I wasn’t convinced. I don’t think I will make Anniyan 2,” he laughs.

Though his stories are rooted to corruption or romance, he is known for his futuristic visuals and narrations. But he is wary of the ‘Brammandam’ (grand) tag to his name. “I request the event anchors to not address me that way. I make movies the way I want to watch them as an audience. Story is the X-factor and I build things around it. For Indian 2, the Calendar song required Bolivia as the location because no one has done a calendar shoot or a film there. February is the only month where that specific place has crystal clear water reflections after rains. The script required it. In Mudhalvan, the climax song was filmed in the most simplistic manner. We just scattered some leaves around and used fans. It was made to look grand. This is how I plan my movies,” adds the filmmaker.

There has been a lot of talk about Velpari, for which Shankar has acquired rights from Su Venkatesan. “I finished writing the screenplay during the lockdown and haven’t cast anyone yet. It will be a three-part movie. I will have to start working on it soon,” he reveals. For the first time Shankar has worked on two films simultaneously--Indian 2 and Gamechanger. “We lost a lot of time during COVID and I had committed that as well because Indian 2 looked uncertain at a point in time. So I had no other choice than to give my 100 per cent to both these films. In fact three, Indian 3 as well,” he states.