After a long time of no update on the sequel to Hrithik Roshan‘s blockbuster film ‘War’, producers Yash Raj Films have sprung a surprising revelation on fans of the movie. The War sequel, tentatively titled ‘War 2’, has found its director. And it is easily one of the most surprising reveals of recent times. Yash Raj Films has bestowed the mantle of directing War 2 on none other than Ayan Mukherji, the director of the recent hit film, ‘Brahmastra’.
This morning, Ayan Mukherji took to social media to reveal the tentative release windows of Brahmastra 2 and Brahmastra 3, the sequels to last year’s Ranbir Kapoor starrer, ‘Brahmastra. Along with the Brahmastra info, Ayan Mukherji also hinted at another “very special” movie that he’s accepted to be a part of – a movie he’s very excited for, and which will challenge and inspire him.
We now know that the special movie Ayan Mukherji spoke of this morning is none other than Yash Raj Films’ War 2. Ayan Mukherji will direct War 2, while Hrithik Roshan will return as Indian Intelligence Agent Kabir. War 2 will be the seventh film in Yash Raj Films’ spy films universe, fondly called as spyverse. The events of the film will take place after the events of the upcoming Tiger 3. There’s no other information on the rest of the cast and crew of War 2.
Yash Raj Films zeroing in on Ayan Mukherji to direct War 2 is a surprising decision by the otherwise perceptive film studio. Ayan Mukherji is well-versed with directing romantic and slice-of-life films, such as his previous films, Wake Up Sid and Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani. Though his latest Brahmastra has a bit of action, it is still essentially a love story. An out and out action film is an unknown, undefined quantity for Ayan Mukherji, and too prestigious a project to he handed over to the relatively inexperienced Ayan Mukherji.
More importantly, though Ayan Mukherji’s movies were well received in the past, they were all totally new movies per se. War 2 will be a sequel to a film that had generated mass hysteria upon release, among fans of Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff – stars of War 2. Any follow-up movie to War will have to stand up to the style and storytelling of the original film. Not to say, director Ayan Mukherji will have big shoes to fill in – Siddharth Anand had directed War. And we all know Siddharth Anand’s proven action movie credentials – he’s directed super successful action thriller films, Bang Bang, War and the recent Pathaan. He’s also directing the upcoming Hrithik Roshan action film, Fighter.
Considering all of the above, one is compelled to wonder – will YRF and Yash Chopra’s decision of choosing Ayan Mukherji to direct War 2 backfire badly for Yash Raj Films ? Or will War 2 prove to be a mega success like its predecessor, War?
Only time will tell.