This story is from April 20, 2016

Sequels that tried to cash in on successful titles

Kollywood has woken up to the box office potential of sequels.
Sequels that tried to cash in on successful titles
In the last few years, Kollywood has woken up to the box office potential of sequels (Singam 2), prequels (Billa II) and franchise films (Muni and Aranmanai series). Of late, there is also a developing trend of filmmakers using the title of a successful film and creating an impression that the new film is connected to the first film, even though, the films share only passing resemblances.
Interestingly, most often, the audiences seem to be cleverer than the filmmakers give them credit for, and so most of these ���Part 2��� films seem to be making no impact. Here are some films that tried to cash in on the titles of successful films.
Jithan 2
The original Jithan was a serviceable thriller based on the Bollywood film Gayab. It involved a protagonist who became invisible and then turned into a criminal. This new film starts with the final scene of the first film, but bizarrely enough, moves on to a completely new plot ��� involving a hapless young man, a haunted house, and a pathetic ghost. And funnily enough, it doesn���t even bother with connecting this new plot to the first scene!
Darling 2
A remake of the Telugu film, Prema Katha Chitram, Darling marked the acting debut of composer GV Prakash and won over audiences with its mix of horror and comedy. Darling 2 was actually made under a different title ��� Jinn. It featured a different cast and crew, and its genre was also somewhat different ��� a horror drama. But the film was acquired by the producer of Darling, who had an idea of developing a franchise and released this film under the title Darling 2. Unfortunately, the film did not click with audiences.

Pasanga 2
Director Pandiraj is a specialist in children���s films and he even won a National Award for his debut, Pasanga. This film, which started off with Haiku as the title, also deals with kids, but the similarities end there. Pasanga was about the life of kids in a rural school, but this one is about two city school kids with ADHD. While it is a far lesser effort than Pasanga, audiences gave it a thumbs up, mainly for its ���message���. So, why is it called Pasanga 2? Because, Haiku, not being a Tamil word would not have got tax exemption for the makers!
Pulan Visaranai 2
RK Selvamani���s 1990 crime thriller Pulan Visaranai, starring Vijayakant, was loosely based on the real-life case of serial killer Auto Shankar. Selvamani had been planning a sequel for long, but when Vijayakant decided to take the plunge into politics in 2005, he chose to make the film with Prashanth. However, thanks to production delays and a haywire script that had no connection to the original, no one really cared when the film released in 2015.
Jai Hind 2
Jai Hind was one of Arjun���s noteworthy films. It���s action sequences and comedy track featuring Goundamani and Senthil remain unforgettable. It���s namesake sequel, which was made 20 years after the first film released, had different characters and setting (revolving around the education system) from the original, which was a cop story. While Arjun didn���t disappoint in the action sequences, the other segments were lacklustre and left audiences unimpressed.
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