PremiumKabzaa 2: Can R Chandru do the sequel given that Upendra and Sudeep fans don’t want them to do it?
The overwhelming sentiment on social media right now is that Kabzaa is a film that the Kannada film industry should forget and move on from
Last Updated: 02.52 PM, Mar 20, 2023
One of the major discussions that came up during the promotions of R Chandru’s latest, Kabzaa, is that it would have a sequel, which, the filmmaker was hopeful of taking ahead with Shivarajkumar and Sudeep’s characters in the lead. Kabzaa had Upendra in the lead, as Arkeshwara, an air force pilot gone rogue, who becomes a major player in the Indian underworld. The film’s last few moments had Arkeshwara facing off with a massive battalion of cops led by Bhargava Bakshi (Sudeep), as well as a gang of thugs led by Shivarajkumar’s unnamed character. The latter’s appearance marks his challenge to Arkeshwara’s throne at the helm of the underworld.
At all the pre-release events, Upendra mentioned that Chandru intends to take the story ahead with Sudeep and Shivarajkumar leading the narrative. If we were to rewind to 2021 and early 2022, Chandru had spoken several times about Kabzaa being a two-part film and one assumed that he had a ‘solid story’ ready to be presented. But going by the team’s recent public appearances, it has become apparent that all that the filmmaker has is an idea – to develop a story. The current cast, Upendra and Shriya, especially, are not aware if their characters will make it to the sequel.
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Most importantly, though, even if Chandru cobbles together a story for the next edition of the film, the question is if his dream cast will be a part of it. Kabzaa has released to widespread negative reviews with fans of both Upendra and Kiccha Sudeep urging the stars not to return for the sequel, or, for that matter, collaborate with Chandru again. Social media is currently flooded with fans messaging both actors urging them not to be a part of Kabzaa 2 and thereby not to work with Chandru. In Sudeep’s case, his fans have requested him to stop doing cameos for the sake of friendships.
If one is to go by the buzz on social media, literally no one except for Chandru, perhaps, is excited about Kabzaa 2. Upendra fans don’t want it; Sudeep fans also don’t want it. Shivarajkumar fans are on the fence, excited about the cameo and the prospect of a full-fledged role in the next instalment, but unsure about whether Chandru will do justice to the Century Star with his story-telling.
Industry insiders say that it is unlikely that Kabzaa 2 will get made, given that it was a complete washout in all the markets outside of Karnataka. Even on home ground, collections have been on a downward spiral, after a fairly decent opening, despite the bad reviews. For Kabzaa, Chandru was lucky to be able to do good pre-release business with digital and satellite rights, as well as for distribution, as his partners only had the trailer to go by and that looked fairly impressive. Now that the film is out and has not lived up to any expectation, it is unlikely that he can strike similar business deals for a sequel.