Almost all of Shankar's films right from his debut as a director, has AR Rahman as his music director. ARR's music played a major role.in Shankar's blockbusters. But, for Indian 2 which is a sequel to Indian to which AR Rahman has composed brilliant music, Shankar opted for latest sensation, Anirudh Ravichander. This leads to many speculations.
In a recent media interaction, the ace director unveiled about not signing the legendary composer. Shankar told the media, “When we started work on Indian 2, AR Rahman was already working on the BGM of 2.0 and I needed the songs soon." Shankar further added he did not want to overburden Rahman, and instead, he wanted to work with the star composer Anirudh, saying, “I didn’t want to overburden him with Indian 2 and I also liked Anirudh’s music. His music was really popular and I thought why not sign him on.”
Meanwhile, When asked about taking over Rahman's role at the Indian 2 audio launch, Anirudh humorously referred to an iconic Rajinikanth dialogue from the 2007 Shankar film Sivaji: The Boss, "After six, comes seven... but who comes after Rahman sir?. I know the expectations are high given how the sequel comes 28 years after the first film. Rahman sir’s music inspires me.”
Apart from Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan, the movie also stars Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh, and SJ Suryah in pivotal roles. Indian 2 / Bharateeyudu 2 is slated to hit the big screens on July 12, 2024.