Kamal Haasan reveals he had raised his fees to avoid doing the film Indian in 1996: 'I had that problem...'

Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan, who is gearing up for the release of his film ‘Indian 2’, is returning with the sequel of the film after 28 years. At the trailer launch event of the Hindi version of the film, ‘Hindustani 2’, Kamal said he never intended to be a part of the 1996 movie in the first place. To the extent that he increased his fee in the hopes that S Shankar would withdraw on his own but the producers fulfilled his fee demands instead.
Kamal shared, “The Shankar that should be today, with all the experience, I have seen (those qualities) in the first film. He was very confident. As a matter of fact, I was not too willing to do the movie because I had another (offered/with me which was) very similar. Actors have this problem, they want to do this movie and not the other movie, I had that problem too. But he never budged. So I raised my fee, but the producer didn’t move. The director said that if I made a movie, I would make it with only this gentleman, and he was confident like a very savvy, seasoned director, which surprised me a lot.”
Shankar and Kamal also confirmed that ‘Indian 2’ is related to the original movie. In Indian 2, Kamal reprises his role as Senapathy. However, the film features a huge new cast that includes Siddharth, Kajal Aggarwal, Rahul Preet Singh, Samuthirakani, Priya Bhavani Shankar and Bobby Simha. Shankar has also used CGI and body doubles to bring deceased actors Vivek and Nedumudi Venu to life on the big screen.
During the event, Kamal also discussed Indian 2's growing budget. He acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic and the tragic deaths on the sets did create a delay in the release; yet, he praised Lyca Productions and director S Shankar for their unwavering commitment to the project.
‘Indian 2’ is all set to hit the big screens on July 12. While fans wait for the sequel, they can catch him play the menacing villain in 'Kalki 2898 AD', starring opposite Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan.