'Moana 2' desi casting: Alia as Moana, Varun as Maui?

‘Moana 2,’ one of the highly anticipated movies making it to the big screens this weekend. The animated movie is set to show the adventures of Moana and Maui, who will be voiced by none other than the fan favorites Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson respectively. The movie is a Hollywood brainchild, set in their dreamland, but what if it was a live-action film set in India? Who do you think would be best suited to play the lead characters? While you ponder on the thought, let’s take a look at what Moana 2’s general technical director, Norman Joseph has to say about this idea.
Norman in his interview with News18 mentioned that if ‘Moana 2’ gets a live-action adaptation with a setup in India, there are several great choices to consider. He said that Moana and Maui have a considerable age gap, the lead female character is quite young while the latter is older. Thus, pinpointing specific names didn’t come as an easy option for the technical director.
However, when the interviewer suggested the ‘Gangubai’ star Alia Bhatt for Moana and ‘Bhediya’ star Varun Dhawan for Maui, Norman with confidence in his voice replied, “I guess so, yeah, that would be a good choice."
In the same conversation, Norman shared whether there was a pressure to match or set a certain bar with the sequel, considering the first installment was a huge success and the second part is coming eight years later. He said whichever movie they make, they make it with the best vision in the mind. They are least bothered by the external pressure saying ‘Moana 2’ needs to be better than ‘Moana.’ The ultimate goal is only to create the best movie they can.

“Every movie we work on, we try to put our best foot forward, as much as we can. We try to make it the best movie we can make, the best movie we are proud of so it’s a pressure that we as artists and individuals and technologists, we want to put our best work forward and that’s how we approach everything and that’s how we approach it. It is not different if it is Moana 1 or Moana 2," he further explained.
‘Moana 2’
The story is set to unveil a new sea adventure, which makes Moana and Maui meet some old enemies and during their journey, they make some new ones too. This time around, they are on a mission to break free the hidden island of Motefetu from the God Nalo’s curse. Will they succeed in the same or not, can only be known once the movie makes it to the theatres.