The trend of multi-part films in Indian cinema is growing, with recent blockbusters like Pushpa (2021), Animal (2023), Salaar (2023), and Kalki 2898 AD following a two-part format. Upcoming films such as Ramayana and Kanguva also been announced as two-part outings. Filmmaker-writer Koratala Siva, whose movie Devara has two parts, says, “As a writer, I’d love to narrate the story in one part. But if the story is too big and has too many characters, we need to tell it in parts.”
Directors add that two parts allow them to delve deeper into character arcs. Shankar, who made a sequel to the Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian in two parts, said during the trailer launch of Indian 2 in June: “If I compressed the whole thing just for the sake of making the film in one part, the soul of every scene would have been lost.”
Also Read: Koratala Siva is ‘on cloud nine’ over Devara Part 1 box office success: The audiences embraced our vision
However, there have also been examples in the past where the second part was shelved after the first one didn’t work — actor Vicky Kaushal’s Bhoot: The Haunted Ship (2020), actor John Abraham’s Attack: Part 1 (2022) and actor Tiger Shroff’s Ganapath (2023), for instance. Trade expert Atul Mohan says, “Some makers are clear about what they want to do in part two, story-wise. See what happened with KGF: Chapter 1 (2018). It earned only around ₹50 crore in Hindi. With Kalki 2898 AD and Pushpa, too, the second part is expected to do well. Some makers are confident that they won’t be able to wrap up an ambitious story in just one part.”
V Vijayendra Prasad, the writer of Baahubali and father of filmmaker SS Rajamouli, who helmed the franchise, explains how the part two of the film was conceptualised: “Baahubali originally wasn’t supposed to be in two parts. Composer MM Keeravani suggested it after seeing the rushes. He suggested keeping Kattappa killing Baahubali as the end of part one, as a cliffhanger.”
Also Read: ‘God tier cinema’: Devara’s OTT debut has Jr NTR, Anirudh Ravichander fans united, Saif Ali Khan scores special mention
Siva opines that once you’ve decided to make a film in two parts, the fate of the first can’t impact it. “I don’t think the pressure or baggage [of what happens with the first part] matters, because, for me, it’s just storytelling. I just want to narrate a better story in part two. If it isn’t concluded properly, it’s the filmmaker’s responsibility to finish it in a good way,” he ends.
(Written by: Mugdha Kapoor and Rishabh Suri)
