Indian 2 is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film directed by Shankar, who co-wrote the script with B. Jeyamohan, Kabilan Vairamuthu and Lakshmi Saravanakumar. The film is jointly produced by Lyca Productions and Red Giant Movies. It is a sequel to Indian (1996). Kamal Haasan reprises his role as Senapathy, an aging freedom fighter turned vigilante who fights against corruption. The film includes an ensemble cast, with Siddharth, S. J. Suryah, Rakul Preet Singh, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Vivek, Samuthirakani, Bobby Simha, Nedumudi Venu, Delhi Ganesh, Manobala, Jagan, and Gulshan Grover. Kajal Aggarwal and Kalidas Jayaram also appear in cameo roles. In the film, set years after the events in Indian, Senapathy returns to help Chitra Aravindhan and his team deal with corruption in the country.
The project was announced in September 2017. Sri Venkateswara Creations was initially on board, but opted out a month later. Lyca entered the production thereafter. Principal photography commenced in January 2019 and occurred sporadically over five years, before wrapping up in March 2024. In 2020, an accident that killed some crew members and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed filming for two years until Red Giant Movies entered as co-producers. The technical crew includes musician Anirudh Ravichander, cinematographers Ravi Varman and R. Rathnavelu, editor A. Sreekar Prasad, production designer T. Muthuraj and visual effects supervisor V. Srinivas Mohan.
Indian 2 was released worldwide on 12 July 2024 in standard and IMAX formats. Critics panned the film, and it was a commercial failure. Due to its initial length of over six hours, the film was split into two parts, although the latter part, titled Indian 3, has not been released as of 2026.
Plot
Chitra Aravindhan is an online media reporter living in Chennai with his mother, Chitra, and his father, Varadharajan, who works at the Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Commission (ACVC). Chitra runs a popular YouTube channel called "Barking Dogs" with his friends Aarthi, Thambesh, and Harish; the channel focuses on parodies and political satires. After a woman named Sunitha commits suicide, the four friends discover that a corrupt government official caused her death. In response, they stage a protest and are arrested by the local police. Chitra's girlfriend Disha bails the four out of jail and tells them that they cannot single-handedly fix the corruption problems of an entire country. In response, Chitra and his friends launch a "Come Back Indian" campaign, hoping to entice Senapathy, a retired vigilante who fought against corruption, to return to India and end corruption.
Nilesh, one of Chitra's friends, spots Senapathy in Taipei, Taiwan, and discovers that he is running a martial arts school, teaching Varma Kalai. Nilesh persuades Senapathy to return to Chennai using his senior mentor's passport. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers Pramod and Elango unsuccessfully attempt to capture Senapathy upon his arrival in Chennai. In a viral Facebook Live video, Senapathy urges his followers and the public to expose corrupt individuals across India through peaceful means, inspired by Gandhian principles, while he will uphold the revolutionary ideals of Subhas Chandra Bose. Senapathy emphasizes that his followers should prioritize addressing corruption at home before tackling external issues. He also emotionally reveals that he reluctantly killed his son Chandru for accepting bribes. Senapathy's message motivates Chitra and his friends, who start monitoring their parents' activities. Harish visits his uncle's motel and discovers they serve stale food to customers. Thambesh finds out that his brother-in-law, Nanjunda Moorthy, accepts bribes from customers, as does Aarthi's mother, Kanagalatha, who works as a sub-registrar. They report their findings to the ACVC, leading to their relatives' arrest.
Senapathy targets and kills several corrupt businessmen engaging in embezzlement and financial fraud, including multinational corporation owner Amit Aggarwal and a Gujarati gold trader named Darshan. Pramod investigates the killings and formulates a plan to arrest Senapathy. Meanwhile, Chitra monitors his father Varadharajan, initially finding no evidence of wrongdoing. However, Aarthi's father Thangavel reveals that Varadharajan had met with the corrupt officer who caused Sunitha's death. Initially skeptical, Chitra investigates and discovers the truth: Varadharajan had accepted a bribe from the officer. Chitra reports this to the ACVC, leading to Varadharajan's arrest. After learning that Chitra is responsible for Varadharajan's arrest, Chitra's mother evicts him from their home. Senapathy congratulates Chitra and his friends for their courage, and plans to meet them in person. The next day, however, they learn that Chitra's mother has committed suicide out of shame, and Varadharajan has disowned him. Devastated by the incident, Chitra and his friends meet with Senapathy near a graveyard. Senapathy apologizes for what has happened, but Chitra blames Senapathy for his mother's death. He launches a new campaign, "Go Back Indian", which becomes viral and earns Senapathy the wrath of the local populace.
Pramod and Elango locate Senapathy and attempt to arrest him, but he flees on an electric unicycle. During the chase, Senapathy is attacked by a group of gangsters, but fights them off. However, a mob of angry onlookers, including police, criminals, and corrupt officials, surrounds and attacks Senapathy, ignoring his pleas. Pramod and Elango eventually arrive and arrest him, but Senapathy uses Varma Kalai on Pramod, who suffers a brain injury and collapses. Pramod is admitted to a hospital, where the chief doctor informs his father, Krishnaswamy, a retired CBI officer, that Pramod will die in three hours and only Senapathy can reverse the tissue and nerve damage Pramod has suffered. Krishnaswamy then takes the paralysed Pramod to a nearby criminal court, where Senapathy faces conviction for his crimes. Senapathy offers to save Pramod's life in exchange for his release, and the judge reluctantly agrees. Senapathy leaves the court and drives away with Pramod in an ambulance, promising that he will return.
Development
During the production of Indian (1996), its lead actor Kamal Haasan asked the director S. Shankar to make a sequel, but Shankar did not have a concrete story idea then. In September 2011, Shankar said many people asked him to make a sequel following Anna Hazare's anti-corruption crusade, and A. M. Rathnam, producer of the 1996 film, urged him to do so. In May 2015, Ratnam confirmed that he and Shankar discussed making a sequel but doubted the project's viability as the director was busy with the production of 2.0 (2018). Despite delaying starting the sequel due to 2.0, Shankar continued working on a story theme for it, under the tentative title Indian 2. On 30 September 2017, Haasan, the host of the first season of the Tamil reality television show Bigg Boss in Chennai, publicly announced the project during the season finale. Haasan was confirmed as the lead actor, reprising his role, and prominent Telugu film producer Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations was announced to fund the venture, thus marking his debut in Tamil.
In October 2017, Raju backed out, reportedly due to increased production costs. Shortly thereafter, Allirajah Subaskaran, head of Lyca Productions, took over as the film's producer. The project marks the reunion of Shankar with Haasan after a hiatus of 24 years. The director chose Anirudh Ravichander to score the music, marking their first collaboration, rather than his regular collaborator A. R. Rahman, who also scored music for its predecessor. Anirudh's inclusion was confirmed in late December 2018. cinematographer Ravi Varman, editor A. Sreekar Prasad and production designer T. Muthuraj were hired to be a part of the film's technical crew. Shankar collaborated with Jeyamohan, Kabilan Vairamuthu and Lakshmi Saravanakumar to co-write the film's script and dialogues.
Despite several proposed announcements of starting dates, the film's shoot was delayed throughout 2018 owing to Shankar's commitments with 2.0, which also faced significant production delays. Haasan also decided to use the time to release his long-delayed Vishwaroopam II (2018) and commit to his political career. In August 2018, Shankar and Haasan announced that the film's shoot would commence that December, The production house later publicly announced the project on 7 November, coinciding with Haasan's birthday, confirming its inclusion as the producers. Muthuraj began working on the production design the same month, as the film's shoot was scheduled to start in late that year; however the delay in its set work, made the team to postpone its shoot to early 2019. Haasan would receive around ₹1.5 billion (US$16 million) as remuneration for the film, the highest in his career.
Casting
In December 2018, Kajal Aggarwal was announced as the lead actress. For her role, Aggarwal learnt the basics of the Indian martial arts form Kalaripayattu. Initially Sivakarthikeyan was considered to play Siddharth's character in the film but declined the role due to his prior commitments. Ajay Devgn agreed to play the antagonist in the film, but production delays meant that he could not commit. Delhi Ganesh, who has frequently acted alongside Haasan, and RJ Balaji were signed to portray supporting roles. However, Balaji opted out of the film in October 2019. Nedumudi Venu was also set to reprise his role from the first film, but died in October 2021 after post COVID-19 complications.
Vidyut Jammwal said he was approached to act in the film but declined due to scheduling conflicts. Rakul Preet Singh also joined the film to star opposite the character played by Siddharth. Aishwarya Rajesh initially agreed to act in the film, but opted out due to call sheet issues; she was replaced by Priya Bhavani Shankar. Vivek confirmed that he will be a part of the project, collaborating with Haasan for the first time, where he plays the role of a CBI officer in the film. It was considered to be one of his posthumous films following his death in April 2021. In March 2023, British actor Benedict Garrett confirmed being a part of the cast, while Kalidas Jayaram also joined the cast in a prominent role during production in Taiwan in April 2023. S. J. Suryah officially confirmed his participation in the film in September 2023. The film also marked the posthumous appearances of Manobala and G. Marimuthu following their respective deaths in May and September 2023.
During a press meet before the release of the film, Shankar gave credit and acknowledgement to prominent Chinese martial artist Lü Zijian by indicating that Zijian is the source of inspiration he took when committing to direct the sequel part, where he developed a mindset to portray Senapathy as a martial arts expert even at the age of 106, highlighting the longevity of Zijian's calibre. Shankar was reportedly quoted as saying, "There is a martial arts master in China. His name is Lu Zijian. At the age of 120, he is performing martial arts. He is flying, kicking, and doing all the stuff." Shankar made such statements when queried and questioned about how Kamal Haasan's Senapathy character in the film could perform such action packed sequences even at an age of 106.
Filming
Principal photography began on 18 January 2019. A week-long shoot was held at a memorial home near Government General Hospital in Chennai, before the team also shot scenes at a nearby film studio. However the film was again delayed after the makers had trouble with the created sets. The shoot was pushed further owing to the Indian general election in May 2019, where Haasan's political party participated. Throughout the development process in 2018 and early 2019, the makers regularly denied media reports that the film had been shelved. Later, the shooting was resumed in May 2019, post elections. Owing to the long break between the schedules, cinematographer Ravi Varman also left the project after becoming committed to Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan: I, and was subsequently replaced by R. Rathnavelu who previously worked with Shankar in Enthiran (2010).
The second schedule began on 12 August 2019, at MGR Film City in Chennai, with scenes featuring Rakul Preet Singh being shot. Siddharth and Priya Bhavani Shankar too joined the sets on 16 August, and later Haasan too joined the sets on mid-September, where his portions being filmed. Haasan and team, later moved to a city hotel in T. Nagar, to proceed the shoot further. By 12 September, the second schedule which took place in Chennai had been completed. On 19 September, the team went to Rajahmundry, shoot the film's sequences featuring Haasan. Later on 23 October, Haasan and his team went to Bhopal to shoot the film at its third schedule.
On 25 October 2019, it was reported that a massive political rally along with a fight sequence, involving Haasan and 2000 junior artistes was shot in Bhopal at the cost of ₹40 crore (equivalent to ₹50 crore or US$5.2 million in 2023). On 30 October 2019, it was reported that the makers head to Gwalior for a 12-day long shoot schedule, which was completed within seven days. Post the completion, the actor went to Chennai, to attend a felicitation ceremony for his 60 years in Tamil cinema, followed by a surgery on 22 November to remove an implant that was performed after he met with an accident in 2016. Scenes without featuring Haasan were canned, to complete major portions of the film, and planned to shoot his portions, after his recovery. On 21 January 2020, it was reported that Haasan will shoot for the film post his recovery, and it will take place at the EVP Film City, Chennai which will last for 35 days. It was reported that the film's team will change the location from China to Italy, due to fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming was completed by 25 March 2024.
Post-production
The editing of the film began in May 2020, after Tamil Nadu government permitted resumption of post-production works of Tamil films that were interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were instructed to follow the necessary safety regulations. The team decided to edit most of the available footage that was completed before the prolonged delay of the film's shoot. Due to Vivek and Venu's deaths before production could be completed, Shankar decided to use visual effects to complete their remaining scenes. Vivek's scenes were completed with Kovai Babu being the body double and his face digitally morphed to resemble Vivek.
Full-fledged post-production works began during July 2023. Shankar collaborated with Lola Visual Effects, known for their work in several American films, to showcase younger looks of Haasan through de-aging technology, and work on the visual effects began at the studio lot of Paramount Pictures. V. Srinivas Mohan joined the film as the visual effects supervisor. In October 2023, Haasan started dubbing for his portions in the film held at the Le Magic Lantern Studio in Chennai. and the very same month the production company tweeted that they had received a copy of the first edit for the film.
In January 2024, sources from the production team claimed that the final edit had been locked and the post-production team was working on the digital intermediate, colour grading, previsualisation, computer graphics and several aspects, without making any amendments from the cut. Nearly four reels of the edit had been sent for the sound design and sound effects. Although the team intended to complete the film before the tentative April 2024 release, the producers wanted to announce the date only after being assured by all the post-production units.
Music
The soundtrack album and background score are composed by Anirudh Ravichander, who is working with Shankar for the first time. He replaces Shankar's frequent collaborator A. R. Rahman, who scored the 1996 film. This will mark the second collaboration of Anirudh with Haasan, after Vikram. After the offer came his way in November 2017, Anirudh started composing for the songs during December 2017, and it took a year to complete the album. He remarked that the delay in the release of 2.0 gave him more time to work on the film's songs.[citation needed]
In November 2023, it was announced that the audio rights for the film were acquired by Sony Music India. The album was officially released on 1 June 2024, which coincided with a promotional event held at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, with the presence of the film's cast and crew and all the other celebrities.
Marketing
The film's final trailer was released on 25 June 2024. It received an unfavourable response from viewers, with particular criticism towards Haasan's makeup, Shankar's direction and the writing; some noted the absence of deceased writer Sujatha, whose contributions to the 1996 film were instrumental in its success. Viewers also questioned the title character's seemingly flawless agility and reflexes, despite him evidently being over 100 years old.
Theatrical
Indian 2 was released worldwide on 12 July 2024 in standard and IMAX formats.[citation needed] In April 2023, Udhayanidhi Stalin stated that they were currently planning on releasing the film in theatres during summer (April–June 2024), as it featured extensive visual effects and needed to be completed within the end of 2023. A year later, on 6 April 2024, the production houses officially announced that the film would theatrically release worldwide that June. However, after a month, the film was revealed to have been postponed to 12 July, due to a few unfinished post-production works and the makers not wanting to compromise on the quality. Indian 2 was the first Indian film to be released in the 4DX format in Saudi Arabia.
Critical response
Indian 2 received negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 15% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10.
Sakshi Verma of India TV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "The movie struggles to be real and dramatic, even while it tries to deliver sincere sentiments. But not the actors or technicians, it's the director that fails us. Shankar uses outdated writing structures; the movie feels uninspired and stale. M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 2/5 stars and wrote, "The problem with Indian 2 is that it is filled with writing that lacks nuance and characters who are caricatures. Even in terms of scenes, all the visual excesses that Shankar throws at them – grand sets, visual effects, and frames filled with people – hardly touch us as there's no emotional connect."
B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle gave 2/5 stars and wrote: "Director Shankar used Senapathy to trigger the consciousness of youngsters and motivate them to fight corruption but falters in execution since four people is a bit too much since it sidelines Senapathy's feats." Anusha Sundar of OTTPlay gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Indian 2 is a film that has Shankar's stamp visually all over. Kamal Haasan may not have gotten a glorious comeback as he did in Vikram (2022), but the actor tries to save the film as much as possible. But alas, there is only so much an actor can do." Janani K of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Indian 2 is weak in every aspect. Underneath the mess, there lies ONE interesting idea. But, by then, the film comes to an end – much to the relief of everyone. Performance-wise, Kamal Haasan speaks Hindi, according to the demography, but has been dubbed in Tamil, which is off-putting."
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 1/5 stars and wrote,"Indian 2 is nothing but a three-hour time suck, where I was bored out of my wits. The end credits tell us that there's going to be a third part. Help." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Indian 2 desperately tries to combine the old and the new, to present to us a story that'll be appealing to the younger audience. Kamal Haasan says he's fighting for India's second Independence in the film. But the audience is left fighting to figure out what's good in this misfire of a film." Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "More than #ComeBackIndian, we hope Indian 3 will be a comeback for the veteran filmmaker [Shankar] and the legendary actor [Kamal Haasan]."
Reviewing the dubbed Hindi version, Devash Sharma of Filmfare gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "It's Kamal's film all the way, and his screen presence and acting chops make you forget the haphazard screenplay. Siddharth too is in fine form as a young man with a conscience who wants to do the right thing but is unsure of his actions afterwards. Rakul Preet Singh plays the supportive girlfriend to a T and perhaps would have a better arc in the sequel." Titas Chowdhury of News18 gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Hindustani 2 is a great attempt but it loses itself in its own ambitions. Known for taking risks, S Shankar chooses to stay in his comfort zone with this film." Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote "The aim is to be "pan-Indian". The result is a bloated, brutish film that rejects non-violent solutions to corruption ("elections do not represent change but an exchange). Senapathy's tactics didn't fail the first time round. The success rate is even lower in the sequel."
Reviewing the dubbed Telugu version, Banda Kalyan of Samayam gave 2.5/5 and wrote, "Technically Indian 2 is good. Shankar used the technical team well. The visuals, however, feel grander. Shankar's mark appears on the songs. But those songs do not seem to work to listen to and watch again. are not visible AR Rahman's music for Bharateeyudu will remain forever."
In response to the negative reviews, particularly criticism towards the three-hour-long runtime, 20 minutes of the runtime were removed on the second day of the film's release and began screening in theatres on the third day, leaving the final runtime as 2 hours and 40 minutes.
