Trade circles heaved a sigh of relief because Kalki 2898AD ended the dull phase at the box office which lasted so many weeks after January due to lack of proper commercial hits in any language. The Prabhas starrer is heading towards emerging as one of the biggest hits of all time. It has already been declared a pan-India blockbuster.
Meanwhile, the next big-budget entertainer that gearing up for a massive release all over the country is Kamal Haasan starrer Indian 2, a sequel to his 1996 blockbuster vigilante thriller Indian ( Bharateeyudu). The Shankar Shanmugam directional has faced numerous production challenges and finally releasing on July 12th worldwide.
While the trailers and teasers received a lukewarm response, the makers are betting big on the heady combination of Shankar and Kamal Haasan who reunited after more than two decades. Despite the underwhelming buzz, Indian 2 is likely to take a big opening in all territories.
Run-time is going to be the biggest factor that may define the outcome of Indian 2 because the final duration is more than 3 hours. As per censor reports, the final runtime locked for Indian 2 is 184 minutes with a U/A certificate.
While Kalki also boasts a similar duration, moviegoers didn’t find it as a liability because of the smart work by the director who delivered a knockout punch with his seamless narration and spectacular graphics in the second half, especially in the climax episode.
But, Indian 2 is a regular social drama with Shankar mark production values and action episodes. The question now is can Shankar and Kamal Haasan make audience sit for such a long duration. The narration and screenplay should be very engaging to keep the viewers absorbed to the screens. If they fail to do so, Indian 2 might get negative reports particularly for this aspect.
We have to wait and see if the protracted runtime hampers the commercial prospects of Indian 2 or not.