Kariya 2 shows that unconditional love can change anyone

As a choreographer, Prabhu Srinivas has over 150 films to his credit across all the south industries. The opportunity to turn director, though, came in Sandalwood, where he is now on his fourth project —

Kariya 2

— which releases this week. Considering that the production house that made

Kariya

years ago is behind this film as well, it has been widely believed to be a sequel. But Prabhu dispels that and lets us in on what his film is about.
“A few years ago, filmmakers Paramesh and Prem got me to direct their film Jeeva, which I followed up with Parijatha and then

Ganapa

, in which we introduced Santhosh Balaraj, the son of veteran producer Anekal Balaraj. Kariya 2 is the second film that I am making with Santhosh. My initial plan was to make a complete romantic film, but when Paramesh told me that the production house holds the title Kariya 2 and wanted a script that works for it, I decided to work on that,” says Prabhu.
The title, incidentally, has audiences wondering if the film is a sequel to the 2003 Darshan-starrer Kariya. “Kariya 2 has shades of rowdyism, but the similarity is only in the title. Our film explores the life of a guy from the underworld and how

love

changes him. The inspiration to write this story came from several reformed goons I met in Chennai. Most of them left a life of crime behind after they fell in love. I used that thread for the story of Kariya 2 to show that unconditional love can change anyone. In that sense, the film is a love story,” says the director.