At the press meet of Draupathi 2, held recently in Chennai, director Mohan G spoke at length about the research and personal experiences that shaped the film. The filmmaker, who has positioned the project as a spiritual sequel to his 2020 film Draupathi, described how a visit to Kasi became the starting point for the story.
Recalling his trip as part of the Kasi Tamil Sangam, Mohan G said, “I visited Kasi for the first time and also went to the Vishwanath temple. As I was coming out, I noticed the Nandi idol facing the Gyanvapi mosque instead of the Vishwanath temple, and that made me curious. I wanted to understand the story behind it and how Hindus and Muslims are coexisting there. That was when I began learning about Aurangzeb, who built a mosque at that location, and it led me into deeper research.”
He explained that this curiosity eventually took him further back into history. “During this journey, I discovered that Malik Kafur not only invaded temples in North India but also attacked and looted the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. From there, my research took me to King Veera Vallala, and that is how the idea for this film was born,” he said.
Mohan G also spoke about the confidence he gained while working on the project, drawing a comparison with another recent historical film. “I became more confident about this film after Chhaava was released. It came out before our film went on floors, and its visuals gave me a lot of assurance. AR Rahman sir composed the music for that film, and audiences consumed it in the right spirit. In the same way, I felt confident that my film would also be understood and received correctly,” he added.
Draupathi 2 is helmed by Mohan G and stars Richard Rishi, Natty Nataraj and Rakshana Induchoodan in the lead roles. The film is backed by Sola Shakkaravarthi under the Netaji Productions banner along with GM Film Corporation. The ensemble cast also includes Chirag Jani, Vela Ramamoorthy, Dinesh Lamba, Ganesh Gourang, Y Gee Mahendran, Barani, Deviyani Sharma, Divi, Saravanan Subbiah and Jayavel, among others.
Set against the backdrop of the Hoysala Kingdom under the rule of Veera Vallala III, the film explores the resistance of the Kadavarayas, the internal conflicts within the kingdom, and the turbulence caused by the Mughal invasion.
On the technical front, Draupathi 2 has music composed by Ghibran, cinematography by Philip R Sundar, editing by Devaraj, action choreography by Action Santosh, and art direction by Kamalnathan. Initially planned for a late January release, the film was brought forward to hit theatres for Pongal. However, it has now been rescheduled for January 23.
