High-flying director SS Rajamouli on Friday dropped the first glimpse of Shankar’s Bharateeyudu 2, sequel to the seminal Bharateeyudu (1996). “Namaste India BHARATEEYUDU IS BACK… Presenting BHARATEEYUDU-2 AN INTRO…,” the director wrote on X (formerly Twitter) attaching a link to the intro.
Roughly two minutes in length, the intro opens with the final portion of Bharateeyudu where Senapathy (played by Kamal Haasan) warns cop Krishnaswamy that he will be back again whenever the need for his presence should arise. Cut to 2023. Corruption is rampant once again in the country. While some officers are demanding a huge bribe for a posting, others are ready to cancel a contract midway if they don’t land the bribe amount. Nothing has changed despite Senapathy’s fight aeons ago, as injustice is the new normal. Now, there is a clamour from people to see the comeback of Indian again. They are trending the social media with Comeback Indian hashtags and are singing songs. There’s crime in every corner of the society and the people want Indian to root it out, again and set an example. The intro is replete with fleeting glimpses of Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh, Priya Bhavani Shankar, SJ Suryah, Bobby Simha, P Samuthirakani and (the late) Vivek. In the end, respecting people’s wishes, the octogenarian Senapathy does appear in Indian thatha outfit, with a picture of his mentor Subhas Chandra Bose in the background, while saying Bharateeyudu is back. And guess what, his Varma kalai skills are sharper than ever.
Overall, the intro is fantastic and sets the right mood for the film. It is dotted with Shankar mark visuals as well, while Anirudh’s song #ComebackIndian is catchy. The production values are opulent and if this intro is anything to go by, Shankar has something massive in store for the audience.
Produced by Lyca Productions with Red Giant Movies, Bharateeyudu 2’s director of photography is Ravi Varman, while Sreekar Prasad is serving as the editor.
