Should it have been titled Abhimanyudu 2?

Right from the making stages, Vishal-starrer Chakra was planned as a sequel to his hit cyber-thriller Abhimanyudu alongside Samantha. However, there’s been a surprising silence from the makers about the Abhimanyudu reference in the Chakra promotions and even after its release on February 19. Yet for the spectators, Chakra’s similarities to Abhimanyudu was quite obvious in the theatres.

What’s the point in marketing Chakra as a new film when several sequences, characterisation of the villain and her backdrop are hardly different from Abhimanyudu? The entire film ran on the same theme of cybercrime and the plot was just an excuse to glorify the lead character immeasurably. Luckily, the casting of Chakra worked in Vishal’s favour – the prospect of watching heroines Shraddha Srinath and Regina Cassandra in meaty roles added uniqueness to the film.

But, wouldn’t have Chakra garnered more publicity had it been titled Abhimanyudu 2 instead? It makes sense because the expectations surrounding Abhimanyudu would have got the film a solid opening. In the past, Sekhar Kammula too did the same mistake by adapting Happy Days in a different backdrop and titling it as Life is Beautiful. He’d later admitted that the film would have fared better if it were titled Happy Days 2. Chakra’s major competition this week in Telugu is Allari Naresh’s Naandhi, which is witnessing good crowds after the many positive reports.