Chandramukhi director recalls how Rajinikanth's improvisation on set 'scared' him

Director P Vasu is gearing up for the release of Chandramukhi 2, starring Kangana Ranaut and Raghava Lawrence. The film is the sequel to the 2005 film Chandramukhi, starring Rajinikanth, Jyotika and Nayanthara. Now, in a recent interview, the director opened up about how the Superstar improvised a crucial scene in the first installment.

3 things you need to know

• In the film, Rajinikanth played the dual roles of Dr Saravanan and Vettaiyan Raja.
• In Chandramukhi 2, Raghava Lawrence will be taking Rajinikanth's legacy forward as Dr Saravanan and Vettaiyan Raja.
• On Saturday, the makers unveiled the trailer of Chandramukhi 2 which received a positive response.

P Vasu impressed with Rajinikanth's act

Speaking to Galatta, the director looked back at the time he shot a crucial scene with Rajinikanth, Vineeth and Jyotika in Chandramukhi. He revealed the scene was initially conceptualised as Vettaiyan Raja (Rajinikanth) beheading Gunasekaran (Vineeth) and burning Chandramukhi (Jyotika) alive. However, during the shoot, Rajinikanth did something unexpected, leaving the director both impressed and scared. 

"He (Rajinikanth) did something during the shooting, which I didn't expect when he kicked the head all of sudden much to the surprise of everyone and I got scared seeing that," P Vasu said. 

The director recalled asking Rajinikanth why he kicked the head when all he had to do was just turn back and look at the camera. He also voiced his concern regarding how the female audience would react after seeing the scene. To this, Rajinikanth replied, "The people are going to love this character. You just wait and watch. You need not worry about anything."

(A still from the film Chandramukhi | Image: @RBSIRAJINI/X)

To the director's surprise, when the film was released in the theatres, the audience loved that scene. "The response in the theatres was phenomenal. He truly has the knack for making the right judgment on some of these aspects," concluded P Vasu.

When will Chandramukhi 2 be released? 

Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah via Lyca Productions, the sequel to Chandramukhi stars Kangana Rananut, Raghava Lawrence, Lakshmi Menon, Vadivelu, Srushti Dange and Raadhika Sarathkumar, among others. Chandramukhi 2 is slated to release on September 15 on Ganesh Chaturthi.