‘Indian 2’ movie review: Kamal Haasan, Shankar’s sequel relies more on the legacy of the past and the promise of the future

After making his debut with a film like Robin Hood gentle And with his second film, he presented a simple love story against a complex political backdrop KadhalanDirector Shankar cranks it up to eleven with his third film, Indian. Apart from the story of a former freedom fighter taking up arms against those who destroyed his country, the touching backstory gave the titular hero a reason to be vigilant, a cause for which he must even sacrifice his own son. This sense of emotional turmoil in the character and the empathy he rightly garnered from us are some of the key elements that carry over into the sequel. indian 2 I miss you.

Senapathy (Kamal Haasan), who arrives in Hong Kong at the end of the film. IndianHe is now in Taiwan, the land where his idol Subhas Chandra Bose died. While those waiting for Bose’s return never got to see it, a group of YouTubers frustrated with corruption got #ComeBackIndian trending on social media, forcing the legend to return to his homeland. While everyone expects him to dispense justice with a belt buckle knife, he first asks the youth of the country to call the corrupt to their homes because…cleanliness begins at home.

possibly the greatest achievement indian 2 This sequel tries to shed light on the people behind corruption and the consequences that follow after exposing those close to you; lives are lost and families are torn apart. The idea of ​​focusing on the consequences of being as straight as an arrow, which Shankar played with in the first part with the death of Senapathi’s daughter, gives rise to a fascinating moral dilemma faced by our ‘Indian’ and the ‘Indians’ who trust him. But this idea, unlike Senapathi’s knife, barely scratches the surface.

A scene from ‘Indian 2’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

We are left with the same templates we loved in Shankar’s films – lavish sets, songs in exotic locations and big action set pieces, plus the tropes we had long hoped Shankar would abandon. We shuddered at the disgusting portrayal of a trans makeup artist IHere’s an unnecessarily problematic scene where our hero is trying to escape his Verma KalaiA womanizer/rich man forces a man to behave like a woman. Remember “Kuppathu Porikki Pasanga” From stereotype MudhalvanNow they are apparently young men with brightly coloured hair hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and abusing people online. Have you ever taken advantage of government welfare schemes that are given away for free? Well, according to the film, you should be ashamed of being bribed to overlook poor governance.

In one scene, an unskilled doctor looks for a patient’s appendix while operating on his back. The film makes full use of this satirical portrayal of a doctor for an emotional scene. But it shies away from talking about more important issues like the NEET controversy that affects the future of medical professionals in the country. In another instance, Shankar compares the whistleblowing of a person who takes bribes of lakhs of rupees to a fisherman who is caught to gain weight to increase the price of his catch. In the filmmaker’s film, Garuda Purana As Anniyan mentions in his film – crime is not something that can be considered small, big or very big. While one such wealthy official arrested for corruption walks out unscathed the same day, the film never tells us what happened to those caught like the fisherman. Shankar’s solutions to issues have mostly been official and idealistic, but he rarely looks at the ground level reasons behind them. Still, his skewed view on everyday issues is most underwhelming Indian 2 Worry.

Different IndianThe sequel takes the fight against corruption across the country further. You know the film is not joking when the statutory warnings against smoking and drinking are replaced by a line, “corruption causes cancer to the country”. Though the film shows a rogues gallery of villains from different states – involved in everything from the granite scam to the recruitment scam – none of the punishments given to them seem as relieving as the ones we saw in the original film. The fact that they go from singing non-stop to dying or running like horses (with Himbulaiya’s voices, I am not kidding) until they die of exhaustion is not exactly as dangerous as what Shankar used to do with villains in his earlier films.

Apart from Kamal, Siddharth and his gang of friends, played by Priya Bhavani Shankar, Jagan and Rishikanth, get the maximum screen time, but their travails and troubles never affect us, as is the case with Manorama’s character. Indian.The truth is all Senapathi needed was a worldwide trending hashtag #ComeBackIndian to end his suicide. Exile And coming to India, running another trend called #GoBackIndian across the country to raise voice against our hero, seems extremely artificial.

What hurts the most are two aspects: how the grandeur that Shankar is known for collapses like a pack of cards without a strong plot and how Senapathy’s character is changed to better suit the innumerable theories that were circulating online before the film’s release. Firstly, the great looking ‘Calendar Song’ or any song for that matter adds no value to the film. And when Senapathy, chased by a gang of goons, runs inside a glass manufacturing company, you can almost hear the late Vivek’s line altar, “Welcome to the place of battle” in your ears. Senapathi, 1996 IndianThere was an old, hunchbacked man whose greatest power, Verma KalaiHis appearance was similar to that of any other person, and this allowed him to commit his murders and escape without a trace. Indian 2, However, he has also been seen jumping walls, infiltrating impenetrable spaces, fighting off a group of bad guys, and even escaping on an electric unicycle in a lengthy chase scene.

A scene from ‘Indian 2’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In the original film, a dashing Krishnaswamy (Nedumudi Venu) proved to be a worthy foe for Senapathy. But in the film, he emerges as a fine actor. indian 2His son Pramod (Bobby Simha) is just another typical Tamil movie police officer who is mainly used by Senapathy to expose nepotism Varisu Arsiyal. Similarly, SJ Suryah, who we assume to be the main antagonist in the next sequel, appears for only a few seconds like other stalwarts like Brahmanandam. Even the dialogues don’t work in the film’s favour; we are assaulted with lines like these ‘Idu karumam illa, Varumam’ And ‘Soththu kaga oduna ni ippo death kaga odu’.

Finally, you know a film is in deep trouble these days when even Anirudh cannot save it with his music. Interestingly, indian 2 A.R. Rahman’s original music has been reused; it not only works brilliantly, but also provides some of the best moments of the film.

And speaking of earlier productions, references to Shankar and Kamal’s previous works, particularly Indian, There are many, including tributes to Goundamani and Senthil. But despite the barrage of ideas that usually do wonders in Shankar’s projects, most of them fail due to a dull treatment that stretches the sequel to two films. A glimpse at the end gives away what’s to come. Indian 3…. This 140-second clip offers everything that the 180-minute film failed to. Relying on the nostalgia value of its predecessor and an interesting sequel coming next year, indian 2 Struggles to be relevant and entertaining. We expect more from #ComeBackIndian indian 3 This will be a comeback for the veteran filmmaker and the legendary actor.

Indian 2 is currently running in cinemas