Shankar-Kamal Haasan's Indian 2 could be taken over by Lyca Productions; final negotiations on

Rajinikanth’s 2.0 makers Lyca Productions are in final negotiations to take over the production of Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2 directed by ace filmmaker Shankar, who is currently busy with the post-production work of 2.0. The announcement of Indian 2 was made at the grand finale of Bigg Boss Tamil in September 2017 amidst much fanfare. Kamal Haasan revealed that veteran Telugu producer-distributor Dil Raju would bankroll the film under his home banner Sri Venkateswara Creations. “Dil Raju has backed out of the project after AM Ratnam, the producer of the 1996 film Indian, demanded a hefty paycheck as royalty. Since the remuneration of Shankar and Kamal Haasan already costs a bomb, Dil Raju was quite apprehensive about shelling out another lavish payment as a royalty fee,” informs a source privy to the development. [caption id=“attachment_4163075” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Poster for Indian 2[/caption] “Lyca Productions has already initiated talks and is in the final round of discussions to gain control of the project. The movie will be made in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi by Lyca itself,” the source adds. Kamal Haasan teamed up with Lyca Productions for the trilingual comedy-adventure Sabaash Naidu in May 2016 before the project was put on the backburner after Haasan fractured his leg after a fall. Haasan has repeatedly maintained that he will resume shooting Sabaash Naidu. Lyca Productions is currently gearing up for the grand audio launch of 2.0 in Burj Park, Dubai on 27 October. If Indian 2 materialises, it will be another mega-budget production for Lyca after 2.0, which is touted to be the costliest film ever made in Asia. The grapevine is abuzz in K’town that ace lensman Ravi Varman, who has earlier worked with Shankar in Anniyan and Kamal Haasan in films such as Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu and Dasavatharam, has been signed as the cinematographer for Indian 2. “I got a line for Indian 2 three years ago. I developed the theme two years ago, and now I’ve decided to do it finally. I felt that it had to be done now. I had a hunch that Indian 2 will be my next film when I started work on Rajinikanth’s 2.0,” director Shankar had said during the Bigg Boss Tamil finale. “We’re launching our film on a grand stage. This show is being watched by six-and-a-half crore Tamils living across the globe. I’ve never had an opportunity to launch any of my films like this. It’s surely a never-seen-before occasion,” Kamal Haasan had said after announcing the project during the Bigg Boss finale.