Indian 2 written, directed by Shankar and starring Kamal Haasan in the lead is the second movie of the Indian (1996) franchise, which is releasing on July 12, 2024 i.e. tomorrow. Scheduled to hit the big screens in Tamil (Indian 2), Telugu (Bharateeyudu 2), Hindi (Hindustaani 2), the sequel is set years after the events of the first film, where freedom fighter turned vigilante Senapathy goes into hiding outside the country, in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose style. 

Senapathy, 106 years old in 2024 is back with the same vigour, aided by years of his Varma Kalai martial arts practice. How he weeds out corruption in India this time around, is what forms the rest of the story.  Indian 2 is one of the biggest productions to come out of Tamil cinema in 2024, and SWOT analysis of the movie produced by Lyca Productions, Red Giant Movies follows:

Strengths

• The impact Shankar, Kamal Haasan and AR Rahman left with the first movie Indian (1996) is no joke. 28 years later, the film continues to linger in the minds and hearts of Tamil cine audience, and this lasting impact has worked in favour of Indian 2 as well. There is significant curiosity over how Shankar and Kamal Haasan have taken the story forward, this time with music from Anirudh Ravichander. 

• Besides the original movie's popularity, the appeal for Indian 2 comes from the scale its mounted on. Indian 2 has multiple star actors (Siddharth, SJ Suryah, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Bobby Simha, Priya Bhavani Shankar among others) sharing screen space together for the first time. It's a Shankar directed film so grandeur, and appealing visuals are a given. Indian 2 in a nutshell is made to be watched in theaters, a whiff of nostalgia (animated version of RK Lakshman - Indian cartoonist & illustrator, Nedumudi Venu, Vivek, Manobala) guaranteed as bonus. 

• Indian 2 comes with a strong technical team comprising of Ravi Varman for cinematography, Sreekar Prasad for edits, T. Muthuraj for production design, Jayamohan, Kabilan Vairamuthu, Lakshmi Saravana Kumar for dialogues, a whole crew of Anbariv, Ramazan Bulut, Anl Arasu, Peter Hein, Stunt Silva, Thiyagarajan for action, and renowned names for VFX, DI and other visual aspects.  

• In line with the grandeur of the film, Indian 2 is releasing on 2D, ICE, Imax and 4DX formats. 

Weakness

• Lead character Senapathy's birthdate according to the Shankar created world is April 30, 1918, making Kamal Haasan a 70+ hero in Indian (1996) and 106 years old protagonist in Indian 2 (2024). Audience familiar with the world and the artists involved have no qualms about buying Shankar's clarification that a 100+ Senapathy in Indian 2 is based on real life renowned Chinese marital arts Grandmaster Lu Zijian (1893-2012), who lived with vigour upto 118 years of age. Others might need convincing till they watch Indian 2. 

Opportunities

• Indian 2 is releasing PAN Indian in multiple formats, against no real competition at the box-office. A good opening and word of mouth, should set the cash registers ringing for the sequel from Shankar and Kamal Haasan.  

• 106 year old Senapathy appears shirtless in a fight scene that looks promising in Indian 2. The 'mass' could pave way for breaking stereotypes about ageing actors and leads. 

Threats

• As mentioned before, the impression AR Rahman left with his timeless music in Indian (1996) leaves no choice but room for comparison with Anirudh Ravichander's songs and score in Indian 2 (2024). Indian 2's auditory experience lead to the inevitable Rahman Vs Anirudh chatter, even though both musicians hold each other in the highest of regards. Indian 2 music composer Anirudh sure has some big shoes to fill. 

• Indian 2 runtime is 3 hours/180 minutes. This could either work in favour of or against the film. 

Related: 5 Reasons to watch Indian 2   Indian 2 FDFS Plot Censor Runtime Cast Crew Teaser Trailer Songs OTT