Would love to have a sequel to Mankatha: Venkat Prabhu

Chennai 600028 (2007) became a massive hit without any cliched villain or big heroes because it had something for everyone, and it  resonated with a lot of youngsters. Also, no other Tamil film had gully cricket as its backdrop in recent years. So, when Venkat Prabhu announced that he would be directing a sequel to 2007 coming-of-age sports drama, fans were excited. I had a chat with the filmmaker. 

Excepts follow…

Why a sequel after eight years?

When I started writing the script for Chennai 600028, I had plans to make a trilogy — like the usual Hollywood sports drama, but it didn’t materialise then. I’m glad that it finally happened. I thought I could begin the story exactly where it ended, but it was not possible as my boys are all grown up now! (Laughs). So, I had to write the story keeping that in mind.

Will this movie also dwell on the same topics?

Yes. There’s love, friendship, humour, emotions, etc., again, which has been conveyed to the sensibilities of youth. But this time, it’s set against Theni. More than anything else, it was like a re-union of sorts for all of us, including Jai, Shiva, Premgi, Nitin Sathyaa, Arvind Akash and Vijayalakshmi. I never force my actors to ‘act’ in front of the camera. I would say they were themselves and everything fell in place. A few artistes like Mahat, Subbu Panchu, Vaibhav, Santhana Bharathi, Abhinay Vaddi, Anjena and Maheshwari are new additions.

How was the experience overall?

With these boys around, it was absolute fun. Chennai 600028 became a success because of Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and it was wonderful to have him back with us. I miss Vaali sir a lot, who had written lyrics for the songs and were chart-busters then. There’s this Soppana Sundari number, for which I have penned the lyrics. Of course, I sought Appa’s (Gangai Amaran) help. (Grins) This apart, I had my former assistants — V R Nagendran, Venkatesh Ramakrishnan, Saravana Rajan, Sripathy and Chandru, who helped me with the climax sequences.

(The piece was originally written for The New Indian Express)