* Chetan Nadiger
Film: Indian 2
Producer: Lyca Productions
Director: Shankar
Starring: Kamal Haasan, Siddarth, Bobby Simha, Rakul Preet Singh, Nedumudi Venu, Vivek, S J Suryah and others
Shankar is back with another of his vigilante and a fight against corruption film with ‘Indian 2’. The film is a sequel to his earlier hit ‘Indian’ which was released in 1996. After 28 years, nothing much has changed with neither corruption, nor Shankar. The director takes yet another opportunity to tell a story in his usual larger than life style
Shankar’s ‘Indian’ was about a freedom fighter called Senapathy (Kamal Haasan) who becomes a vigilante to fight corruption. He even kills his son who is corrupt in his fight over corruption and escapes to Bangkok at the end of the film.
‘Indian 2’ starts with a group of youthful YouTubers known as ‘Barking Dogs’ who speak for the common man by challenging injustice in their community. Triggered by the corruption they encounter; they start a global trend in social media with the hashtag #ComeBackIndian. But there is no news of Senapathy anywhere. Finally, Senapathy is found in Taipei, where Subhash Chandra Bose is said to have died in an air accident in the 1940s.
Senapathy decides its time to come back once again and fight against corruption. He also terms it as the second war of Independence. He comes back to India and this time does not restrict himself to Tamil Nadu, but also travels across the country including Gurjarat, Punjab and other places killing the corrupt. He uses a Varma Kalai an ancient form of martial arts against his combat with the corrupt. What happens next forms the crux of the film.
Though ‘Indian 2’ is not a direct take any incident, there are indirect references to Vijay Mallya, Ambani and others. The film lacks a clear antagonist like other commercial films. A businessman who lets a bejewelled turtle crawl up on a woman’s navel, a real estate agent who has tons of jewellery on him, a granite quarry lord who has a toilet made of gold, a educationalist who wants to explore Mars are the villains in this film. Not only the rich, every single person who is corrupt is the villain in this film.
The problem with ‘Indian 2’ is that there is no well-defined conflict nor is complete. It’s just a bridge between ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian 3’ (which will be releasing next year). The film is a three-hour lead to Part 3 and the audience feels cheated. Though the film has a big canvas, richly made and extravagant, the film suffers because of a poor plot.
One of the negative points is that Kamal Haasan does not have much screen space in this film. In the three-hour long film, Kamal Haasan may be seen for 45 minutes and the rest is about various other actors and incidents. Kamal Haasan plays the role of a 100 plus year old Senapathy. Though his performance is undisputed, his character is hampered by prosthetics. Siddarth and Samuthrakani have a meaty role in the film and the actor shines in it. Bobby Simha who plays a CBI officer and S J Suryah who plays a real estate giant called Sarguna Pandian doesn’t have much to do. Rakul Preet Singh is wasted.
The songs, visuals and action sequences are rich. Though the chasing sequence on a unicycle looks a bit stretched, it is very unique. The action sequences also look like that goes on forever.
‘Indian 2’ has everything excess except for a satisfying experience. As said earlier, the film is just a bridge between 1 and 3. Let’s see what Shankar has in store in the upcoming film.
First Verdict of ‘Bhairathi Ranagal’ released; film in September
