Popular cinematographer Ravi Varman, who has worked in films such as Anniyan, Kaatrin Mozhi and Jagga Jasoos, has opted out of Shankar’s Indian 2 as he has been signed for Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan, which will go on the floors from December.

Varman was supposed to begin filming for Indian 2, which marks the reunion of Shankar and Kamal Haasan after two decades, from August last week onwards, but since he knows he would not be able to complete the project by December, he has reportedly decided to opt out to keep himself available for Ponniyin Selvan. Meanwhile, Shankar is said to have signed lensman Rathnavelu as the replacement for Ravi Varman. Rathnavelu has just wrapped up work on Chiranjeevi’s magnum opus Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.

Having teased fans with the first poster of the film on the occasion of Pongal earlier this year, the makers of Indian 2 are now gearing up to complete shooting the project as planned in the next six months. The first poster featured Kamal displaying his ‘varma-kalai’ skill as the octogenarian vigilante Senapathy from the prequel Indian. The poster, which was released sans any hullabaloo, was received very well and started trending on social media in no time. The regular shooting began on January 18 in Hyderabad but the makers shot briefly for a week and then stopped for reasons unknown.

Indian 2 also stars Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Siddharth and Priya Bhavani Shankar in crucial roles. To be produced by Lyca Productions, the film will have music by Anirudh Ravichander. The makers are yet to reveal the rest of the cast and crew; however, there are rumours that Abhishek Bachchan is most likely to play the antagonist.

(Content provided by Digital Native)