‘The writing in KGF Chapter 2 will be one of my best’

With a successful 50-day run for across India and a spot on Amazon prime, KGF Chapter 1 has had a dream run. And director Prashanth Neel is on a high with audience having “acknowledged the film as a good entertainer”. And what more can a filmmaker ask for? “It’s a success for the entire team, which I feel is well-deserved,” he says.

 
Going the extra mile

Prashanth feels that producer Vijay Kirangandur and Yash are the reasons behind KGF’s success."They pushed us beyond our limits. I was not completely convinced the film would live up to the expectations of a pan-Indian audience, but both of them had the conviction from day one. The look, feel and trailers of the film did most of the job. In fact, they were the ones who 'sold' the product outside. They didn’t restrict themselves to being just producer and actor, but took on entrepreneurial roles,” says Prashanth, who also gives due credit to the entire team — cinematographer Bhuvan Gowda, music director Ravi Basrur, art director Shivakumar and editor Srikanth — who worked behind the scenes tirelessly. “Apart from the leads and character artistes, most of those cast in KGF were non-actors. Despite it being their first time on screen, they still took the KGF journey forward,” he says. 

Regrets

The director regrets not thinking of making KGF as a two-part feature right at the beginning of the project. “It was only during the making that I realised that it can be done in two parts. We even had a month-long discussion on it. We brainstormed and finally decided that the film would have a second part...and that would be our USP,” he says, adding, “Whether it is going to be better, is something that the audience will have to decide. However, what I can say is that it will be much larger in terms of budget, ambition, and responsibility.”

'The best is yet to come'

On an all-time high, the director is confident that Chapter 2 will see his “best writing”. “Most of the writing for Chapter 1 happened on the sets as the film went along. But it’s going to be a different story for Chapter 2. I just know that the writing for this film will be better than any of my other projects. I believe it will be the strongest in my career,” says Prashanth 

Vision 2020

Prashanth plans to start shoot for the film from March. “Once I start I am going to work like a demon. It took me two years to complete KGF Chapter 1, but I will complete part two within a year. So, it is going to be double the work for everybody,” he says.