Forward of L2 Empuraan, Prithviraj Sukumaran weighs in on sequels and franchises ruling field workplace

Sequels and franchises have grow to be a dominant pressure within the world movie business, and the Indian movie business is not any exception. With audiences more and more drawn to acquainted universes and tales that proceed throughout a number of movies, this development is anticipated to proceed properly into 2025.
Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, who’s gearing up for the discharge of his much-anticipated directorial enterprise L2: Empuraan, a sequel to his 2019 hit Lucifer, headlined by actor Mohanlal, not too long ago shared his ideas on this rising development and the enterprise rationale behind it.
Sukumaran tells us that the rising success of sequels is pushed largely by enterprise concerns. “The development is standard as a result of it makes enterprise sense — that’s really the reality of it,” he acknowledges. He elaborates, stating that when a director creates a profitable movie, the sequel or follow-up naturally generates heightened curiosity, typically because of its connection to a beforehand profitable universe. “Let’s say, a director makes a movie, and that movie is a large success. If you happen to make your subsequent movie and also you say it belongs to that universe or it’s a continuation of that specific story, instantly the curiosity spikes,” he explains. “Even the streaming platforms suppose, ‘Oh, we have to have that movie as a result of it’s from the identical sequence’…so, all of it makes enterprise sense.”
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Nevertheless, Sukumaran additionally emphasises that whereas business motives undeniably play a task, they shouldn’t be the driving pressure behind making a franchise. He believes that sequels ought to solely be pursued if the story naturally warrants it. “However ideally, that (the enterprise side) shouldn’t be the driving pressure behind doing this. It ought to be that your story must be informed throughout so many movies or your story wants that type of runtime to be accomplished.”
Reflecting on the rise of the sequels, Sukumaran traces its popularisation again to SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Starting (2015), a movie that, in his view, set an ordinary for what a profitable two-part story ought to be. “If you happen to return to the start of the development— which, I’m positive there have been different movies earlier than that, however I feel the development grew to become standard from Baahubali — you realise that was a really trustworthy half one and half two. You realise that the story actually wanted two movies to be accomplished, in order that ought to be the driving pressure. You need to be doing a component two or half three solely as a result of you’ve a narrative that wants two or three movies to be informed.”
Sukumaran is assured that the story of L2: Empuraan is worthy of a three-part narrative arc. He contrasts the sequel with its predecessor, Lucifer (2019), explaining that the primary movie was structured in a approach that it may stand by itself even when a second half by no means materialised. “I consider it is a story that deserves three movies, and in contrast to half one, the place we completed the movie at some extent, the place we knew that even when half two doesn’t occur historical past will nonetheless take a look at Lucifer half one as a standalone movie, and it’ll nonetheless be a whole story,” he says. “However we’re taking an opportunity with half two as a result of on the finish of half two, I feel the viewers will stroll out of the theatre considering, ‘Nicely, now, to grasp the remainder of the story, we should see half three.’”
When requested if the rising consumption of long-form content material on OTT platforms has influenced audiences to hunt deeper dives into characters and narratives even in movies, and if that’s the reason extra movies are being was franchises and sequels, Sukumaran rejects the notion of equating long-form storytelling for streaming companies with the theatrical format. “No, I don’t suppose you’ll be able to combine the 2. Mainly, streaming companies and theatres serve two utterly completely different types of viewer engagement,” he asserts.
He says the theatrical expertise is about communal engagement — audiences experiencing the story collectively, the place shared moments comparable to laughter or applause enrich the expertise. “Theatres are so that you can stroll into a giant corridor with 500 individuals, swap off the lights in full darkness, ideally swap off your cell phones, and solely have communication with the display — nothing else,” Sukumaran explains, including, “And the great aspect about neighborhood viewing is that the neighborhood turns into a part of your expertise. If there’s a clap-worthy second, 500 individuals are clapping with you. If you happen to’re laughing, 500 individuals are laughing with you.”
However, streaming companies provide a way more private and versatile expertise, permitting viewers to pause, resume, and even re-watch content material on their very own phrases. “In streaming companies, it’s a really private equation. It’s between the display and that single viewer, and it additionally provides you the freedom of pausing, taking a cellphone name, switching off, watching the remainder of it the following day,” Sukumaran says.
“Characteristic movies that launch theatrically and content material that’s made for streaming companies are utterly two completely different codecs of leisure. The crafts stay the identical when it comes to filmmaking, cinematography, and all that, however the way in which you envision it, the way in which you write it, and the way in which you serve it are utterly completely different between the 2,” he indicators off.
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