'2.0' director S Shankar and AR Rahman unlikely to team up for 'Indian 2'

Filmmaker S Shankar and music composer AR Rahman began their careers around the same time. When the director made his debut with Gentleman (1993), starring Arjun, he roped in the maestro who only had Roja (1992) to his credit back then. Their maiden collaboration not only became a blockbuster, but its soundtrack was also a chartbuster. Since then, the two teamed up for several films over the years. However, even as their latest, 2.0 starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, is enjoying a good run in cinemas, the news is that Shankar and Rahman are unlikely to team up for the maverick director’s next, Indian 2. 

Reliable industry sources indicate that the visionary filmmaker and the Oscar Award-winning composer have apparently had a fallout. While it’s not clear what caused the rift between the two geniuses, the fact is that previously, too, they had parted ways when Shankar was making Anniyan (Aparichit, 2005) with Vikram. The technical whiz reportedly got the idea of the psychological thriller while waiting for Rahman to create the background score of his coming-of-age film, Boys (2003), starring Siddharth and Genelia D’Souza (now Deshmukh). 

Back then, Rahman was busy with his debut Broadway musical, Bombay Dreams, and had also signed up for another musical, Lord Of The Rings. So, the two apparently decided to part ways and Harris Jayaraj was roped in to compose for Anniyan. While Shankar and Rahman got back again together two years later for Rajini’s Sivaji: The Boss (2007) and then for I (2015) starring Vikram, the soundtrack for Nanban (2012) (Shankar’s remake of Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots, 2009) was created by Harris Jayraj.

Considering that the two stalwarts have done such good work together, industry insiders are shocked that Rahman won’t compose for Indian 2 (the sequel of the 1996 hit), which will star Kamal Haasan. It is reported that 
Anirudh Ravichander will be its music director.