‘Jigarthanda 2 won’t be just another sequel’

CHENNAI: Karthik Subbaraj maintains calm and composure ahead of Jigarthanda Double X’s release on November 10. “This is my first theatrical release in almost five years after Petta. I had planned on making a sequel to Jigarthanda when I was working on Iraivi in 2016. However, I hesitated because it would look like something I did out of desperation. So, when I am coming back with a theatrical film, I didn’t want Jigarthanda Double X to be just another sequel. It will be a soulful film and will carry the essence of the first part,” he begins.

Karthik Subbaraj goes on to define soulful and says that Jigarthanda Double X will not have any of its characters from the first part. “The sequel will have the soul of the first part. SJ Suryah plays a filmmaker and Raghava Lawrence plays a gangster. How art connects them is what the film is all about. The story too is set in Madurai but the period is 1975, where SJ Suryah is an assistant to Satyajit Ray. I wouldn’t have divulged that but now I chose to as the teaser and trailer gave away the glimpses of him as Raydasan,” he remarks.

Raghava Lawrence is back to his mass avatar with Jigarthanda Double X and resembles Rajini in a few frames. “We can’t help as he has features like Rajini sir. I had approached him to play Assault Sethu in the first part and he couldn’t allocate dates. Later, when we decided to make the sequel, his dates were available as well. I am glad we could work together,” says Karthik. The film also marks his second collaboration with SJ Suryah after Iraivi. “When I told him he will be playing a filmmaker, he was skeptical and asked why again a filmmaker after Iraivi. But for this I wanted a power-packed performance and only he could do that. You will see that when the film releases on November 10,” he states.