Indian 2 - The Superhero Sequel That Was Not To Be

In a few of his interviews leading up to the movie, director Shankar made repeated references to Superman and how he doesn’t age. Much like other superheroes or larger than life characters like James Bond. When we see Indian 2, we understand why. Shankar is clearly a fan of the superhero trope, one where a larger than life person takes on the mantle of taking down corruption or whatever evil that deserves to be taken down. And when we look at the arc of Indian 1 and 2, it becomes even more clear.

The Superhero Template, As We Know it

The classic superhero movie goes as follows - the origins section where a superhero is born. Decidedly of human origin (unless of course it is Superman or others of divine or otherworldly origin), the protagonist goes through a trial by fire, often personal loss, testing him physically and emotionally, with his decidedly human failings ultimately forging him into a superhero. Then follows a phase of public awe and acclaim, cementing his mythical status in the society, which is invariably followed by a test of character to decisively prove that he deserves this status. The final act is often one where the public sentiment turns against the superhero because of the very qualities that made him one which the leads to a climax where he redeems himself and trumps against all odds. Central to this, is also the emergence of an antagonist who is his equal, or even superior, expertly capable of turning public opinion against him.

Indian 1 and the Superhero Origins Story

Indian 1 sets up this premise beautifully. Though the movie begins with Senapathy's first killing, it still retains his human persona. Be it the slow gait, or even his shaky handwriting. We see the human behind around the superhero - his house and his wife. At a later stage, we see the rebel son and  the loyal daughter , both of whom play crucial parts in creating and cementing the superhero arc. We even get a detective who keeps nipping at his heels with his ingenuity to ensure the superhero doesn’t get ahead too much. And the story organically leads us to a place where the superhero finally addresses the public (and us, the audience) to lay the stage for his larger battle to set right the society.

Having heard very few words from Senapathy till then (only those iconic dialogues like “padi, puriyum” or the “kaLaiya pudingittu irukken” delivered with a raspy voice), he finally sets up Senapathy to delivery his famous monologue on corruption in the now-famous “QTV set”. An early indication of Shankar understanding the medium of cable TV to connect with this target audience.

Indian 2 - The Superhero returns. Why, though?

Cut to Indian 2, the mythical status of Senapathy is still intact, though he has long disappeared from the public sphere. And a that is left from the superhero story is the last act - public ridicule and blame, and finally redemption. Shankar intuitively sets up the story for the same while deliberately flipping the script from Indian 1 - while the father - son conflict continues to be the emotional core, the roles are swapped here. While cable TV was the medium of mass communication in Indian 1, here it is social media.

Here was a stage ripe to setup the story of a family caught into the wake of Senapathy’s crusade against corruption - where idealism strains against the restraining influence of the family, where youth rebels against the older generation - all this is a societal space where Senapathy continues to live on, inspire, influence, and even terrorise, even while absent, merely by his persona.

This was a story that did not need Senapathy the miracle man, pulling off disguises increasingly testing limits of authenticity, showing hitherto unseen tricks, breaking into grandiose sets of Shankar’s imagination, be it the all gold Gujarati house or the zero gravity chamber, showing off his six packs or even zooming around a powered unicycle for an interminably long stretch. And yet we get all that.

More Myth, Less Man

Instead of one powerful antagonist, we get a laundry list of evil guys with increasingly bizarre tastes and hobbies (if anything, it only revealed the still present queerphobia in the mind of the maker) And despite Senapathy remaining in the public consciousness without doing any communication, we get Senapathy giving us long monologues again and again, detailing crimes in a manner than would put documentaries to shame.

If anything, when Senapathy the myth had already caught the imagination of India’s youth, all that we needed to see was Senapathy the human, biding his time, living out the rhythms of everyday life. A peek into his life after his wife and children. And yet, that’s the one aspect sorely missing. Leaving us with a glorified stuntman, a modern day Aladdin’s genie turning up when beckoned by social media.

When The Soul Runs Hollow

Even the emotional core goes adrift with multiple stories of the same theme, leaving us neither the time nor space to connect with any of them. Shankar leaves abegging the tanatalizing opportunity of using Senpathy in a dazzling cameo just when the emotional conflict in the son-father story (Siddharth-Samudrakani segment) reaches its apex point, at a moment where disillusionment against Senapathy's message is real and in danger of destroying his whole legacy.

In a story bereft of a strong antagonist, this emotional core and disillusionment would have been the antagonist.

This would have also set us up for a fantastic Indian 3 requiring Senpathy to redeem his life and legacy.

Instead we are left wondering what could have been… and what else is left in store.

Watch our detailed discussion on what went wrong with Indian 2 here, with several other points also being discussed.