TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS | Updates - Look back with Madhavan Pg33 - Page 7

Tanu Weds Manu Returns is according its leading man Madhavan a rare bonfide sequel in Bollywood, a land of misrepresentations where titles of hit films are randomly applied to unconnected films that come later masquerading as 'sequels'.

Says Madhavan, "Tanu Weds Manu Returns picks up the threads of the story from exactly where we left off the characters 4 years ago. Kangna and I are 4 years older than we were in the first film.So are all the actors, young and old."

Then comes Madhavan's shocking revelation. "We have used the junior artistes from Tanu Weds Manu to play the same characters in the sequel. A couple of them were kids with bit roles in the first film. We were not sure how they had grown up and what sort of talent they still had within them. But Aanand was adamant. He wanted to maintain complete continuity from the first film to the second. A little girl from the original who had a small part has a far bigger part to play now. The way she has evolved as an actor blew our minds."

So would Tanu Weds Manu Returns be the first proper sequel of Bollywood? Madhavan avers, "It is certainly completely true to the genre. We've worked hard on the look and continuity.I remember how I was fully hands-on while doing Tanu Weds Manu. Aanand and I virtually got the project going from scratch. I am far more relaxed with the sequel."

Madhavan who has been a major force in Tamil cinema for 12 years suffers no sense of insecurity about being overshadowed by the Queen heroine. "I am happy with my role. Kangana may have a double role. But the film is about both of us. We are the couple from the title.And she deserves every bit of the success she has got. What is more important is that we have have a made proper sequel that takes the story forward. I've the same gut-feeling about Tanu Weds Manu Returns that I had for 3 Idiots. Some films are destined to change the definition of entertainment."

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-even-the-junior-artistes-are-the-same-says-r-madhavan-2080056