Debutant director Sathish Chandrasekaran says the forthcoming second instalment in the Tamil horror-thriller "Darling" franchise, which releases in cinemas on Friday, taught him a lot about the nitty-gritty of commercial cinema.
"I worked on short films before I got an opportunity to make 'Darling 2', and I learnt a lot about commercial cinema from this experience. When you make short films, you can make it the way you want, and there's some innocence in the way you make them," Sathish told IANS, adding that all of it changes when one starts working on a feature film.
"When it comes to regular feature films, there are so many factors, like budget, casting, marketing and scheduling of shoot, and one needs to take all that into consideration. It's also easy to make a feature film, but the challenge is to release it," he said.
"Darling 2", which stars Kalaiarasan, Rameez, Arjun, Hari and Maya, is not a sequel to "Darling".
"It was producer Gnanavel Raja who suggested we rechristen it to 'Darling 2' as the core plot is similar to 'Darling'. Since our film was also about a group of friends who embark on a journey and deal with paranormal forces, he felt it would be wise to include it in the 'Darling' franchise," Sathish said, and added that to continue a franchise a film need not be a sequel.
"Darling 2" is being released by Gnanavel Raja's Studio Green, and Sathish says the film is scarier than its predecessor.
"Our film is scarier, and it has humour too, woven into the plot seamlessly. The humour will be more situational. For instance, in the film, when two characters are having a serious argument, the way the scene unfolds will evoke laughter," he said.
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The film is inspired from events from Sathish's own life.
"It's based on some spooky experiences from two trips I had gone on with my friends. Hari of 'Madras' fame plays my role in the film, and he was phenomenal, especially acting with a stammer and doing full justice to the role," he added.
"Darling 2" is a crowd-funded film, before it was bought by Studio Green.
With the financial support of his family and friends, Sathish managed to shoot the film.