'Indian 2' Review: A very interesting take on vigilante concept is completely abandoned in this overlong, unrealistic social drama flick

Indian 2

OVERVIEW:

'A film that borders on being over the top and being bearable, but fails to even do something original and fresh'

This film is a bit tricky for me to give my opinion, just because the film felt better for me in its latter half. To hop onto the 'negatives' part, lets give credit where it's due. The initial moments of the film were good with some nice ideas sprinkled and the motive of having social issues, and somewhat hard hitting.

The second half definitely got better for me, personally. The progression in the plot with certain moments made some sense in a film that almost made a mess of itself. The aspect of Senapathy's ambiguity in terms of characterisation towards the end was good.

To just pounce on the badly written aspects of the film and demean it might be a bad step. I can probably try to be a bit diplomatic. The film doesn't try anything fresh or impactful in the first half. The most disheartening fact was that the film's worse moments were the one of Senapathy. Yes you heard me right, the film suffered whenever 'Indian' came on screen. The prosthetics really made the job worse by hiding the performance.

The dialogues, which was a silver lining in its predecessor, found its worst companion in this sequel. It was neither sharp nor hard-hitting. The clarity and sparkling cleverness the first film had is absolutely missing in this picture. The absence of Mr.Sujatha or any good writer does make a huge difference in the quality of a film, especially when we realise it is a sequel of a masterpiece.

Yes, there were very few moments where the film found its right path and its pitch of delivering it. It doesn't get preachy but evokes a facepalm everywhere. The film's social awareness moments just felt like a rehash of what the director had done previously, just recycling his own best scenes into a mishmash of so-so scenes.

The one thing that really intrigued me was this one bit of true writing, where the actions of Senapathy is questioned. This terrific subplot of 'disadvantages of being a vigilante' and the consequences of adhering to truth and justice is squandered by the lacklustre vision.

The burden of doing justice to its dignified previous part and Shankar's attempt to adapt to the new generation methods of proceeding with the film's social issues undeniably bogged down this flick.

The visual grandeur in certain scenes couldn't hide the film's evident flaws in its writing. The character arcs felt too sketchy and music doesn't create a strong impact.

To conclude, Indian 2 barely manages to engage you but it doesn't come off as a better product even when seen as a standalone flick.

Comments

'Dragon' Review: An immensely enjoyable entertainer on morality, through Ashwath's smartness, with shortcomings.

In his sophomore directorial, Ashwath Marimuthu follows up his well written debut film Oh My Kadavule, with another terrifically penned and executed Dragon. The smartness did not just lie in the film, but also in the way it garnered the empty excitement around it. Ashwath Marimuthu, just like his first attempt takes his own sweet time to set things up, rig up the moments to blast out later and his writing surprises us in so many ways. He clearly gets the pulse of using trends, internet people, makes them meaningful and gives it a presence through his writing. The execution does falter at many places in the first half, owing to the surface level flow of scenes, but...with all the needed set-ups. Dragon does stutter in its initial portions. For a film that's almost an anti-thesis to whatever it used for its projection, the film does make fun of the borderline worst actions of its protagonist. The initial choices made in these portions are a bit questionable for the terri...

'Vidaamuyarchi' Review: A solid genre film that lacks the palpable tension for a thriller.

True blue genre films are a rare commodity in our industry and big stars headlining such films are once in a blue moon. Vidamuyarchi, adapted from the Hollywood film 'Breakdown' attempts to walk this thin line and partially succeeds in the process. Magizh Thirumeni does a tremendous job in trimming down the fat out of a big star vehicle and in showcasing the star as a vulnerable protagonist rather than the supposed big hero. Ajith is vulnerable, he gets beaten up, he gets tricked, his anger feels quite palpable and it's such a refreshing choice to build the protagonist character in such ways. The idea to treat his character in a much more subtle manner allows for more palpable tension. The tension building in the first half is done well, with a slow burn approach that works in the film's favour. The geography of the film is beautifully handled, with the wide shots of the vast expanse areas, creating a sense of endless mystery. The visual treatment of the fil...

'Kanguva' Review: Aims to be technically sound, ends up technically - loud.

Imagine having a fascinatingly novel plot involving the Roman Empire attempting to create rifts amongst a five-clan community in a mountain, with each clan having unique characteristics, professions, costumes- yet a magnanimously mounted epic treads on a familiar tale of re-incarnation, ending up doing justice to none. That is Kanguva. Expecting larger than life elements and huge spectacle treatment is certainly not a bad thing, but there are certain facets to it, demanding some sort of nuance. Kanguva seems to have misunderstood this aspect in its epic attempt and hammers these sensibilities to all possible corners. From all Siva films, it is safe to say that one doesn't arrive to his films, expecting subtle emotions and underplayed moments and it's not completely wrong. With Kanguva, Dir.Siva attempts to broaden his canvas and experiment with genre-types and in his pursuit to integrate his trademark emotions to this narrative, Kanguva terribly misses out on creat...

Ramnath

Search This Blog