Ajay Gnanamuthu, the Tamil filmmaker who is awaiting the release of Cobra, announced on Sunday that a sequel to his 2015 directorial debut Demonte Colony, is in the works.
Demonte Colony, is a fictional horror thriller set against the backdrop of a locality of the same name in Chennai. The film, which stars Arulnithi, Ramesh Thilak, and Sananth among others, was positively received, after its release. It revolved around four friends and their experiences at a haunted residence in the locality of Demonte Colony.
On Sunday, Ajay announced a sequel to the film, as well as hinted at the possibility of making the stories as part of a franchise. However, he also mentioned that while he will be writing the story, screenplay and dialogues of the sequel, his Cobra co-director, Venkatesh Venugopal will be helming the sequel. Arulnithi will also be featuring in the film.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Venkatesh, who will be making his debut directorial with the sequel, says, “I have worked with Ajay sir in Cobra, and we developed a good rapport. When he was planning to make the Demonte Colony sequel, he offered me an opportunity and I felt that it was the right chance to make my directorial debut.”
Venkatesh says that it will be a “proper sequel” and take off from the point of the story, which the 2015 film left off. “Our plan is to also make it into a franchise of several releases. You can expect more parts, aside from the sequel, and we are also working on the script, the same way. If you see Hollywood films or even KGF, we are trying to create a universe with these films. There will be new characters, and whatever the old characters go through, will also be focused on. While the dead characters remain the same, there will be a continuation to the plot of what potentially happens, further,” he says.
The filmmaker attributes that it was Ajay’s idea to create a franchise. He adds, “A lot of people had asked him (Ajay) about the film, since it stirred a lot of expectations from him and Arulnithi. He was planning on working on it, when he got the right idea for it. Now, as the right script came along, we have announced it.”
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The sequel is in the pre-production stages with final touches to the script being added. Venkatesh says that the cast and crew of the film is yet to be finalised. “From the first week of June, we will be concentrating on locking down the people for cast and crew. Arulnithi sir will be appearing in the sequel, as well. We are planning to go on floors from the third week of July, and the film will be predominantly shot in Chennai.”
Venkatesh says that it has been a long time since a “pure horror” film came into Tamil cinema, with the recent influx of the horror-comedy genre. On being asked why he chose to debut with this film, he says, “I think this is more challenging because I am taking up to work on a sequel of a film that is already a hit. There are expectations to be met. I think I have the confidence to handle it.”
Meanwhile, both Venkatesh and Ajay are awaiting the release of Vikram-starrer Cobra. The film, which is scheduled to release on August 11 in theatres, will be an action thriller and is in its final stages of post-production.