Movie: Bharateeyudu 2
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Lyca Productions, Red Giant Movies
Cast: Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh, S. J. Suryah, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Bobby Simha and others
Story: Shankar
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
DOP: Ravi Varman
Editor: A. Sreekar Prasad
Production Designer: Muthuraj
Action stunts: Anal Arasu
Producer: Subaskaran
Written and Directed by: S.Shankar
Release Date: July 12, 2024
"Bharateeyudu 2," the highly anticipated sequel to the 1996 film "Bharateeyudu," starring Kamal Haasan and directed by Shankar, has opened in theaters.
Let's see if this sequel lives up to the original.
Story:
Chitra Aravind (Siddharth) and his friends operate a YouTube channel called "Barking Dogs." After a girl takes her own life because of the pressure exerted by a corrupt official who demanded a bribe for a teaching job, Aravind and his team launch the #ComeBackIndian campaign. Their goal is to bring back Senapathy (Kamal Haasan) and eliminate corruption in the society.
Senapathy is presently residing in Taipei, having fled from India in 1996. Senapathy, also known as Indian, encourages everyone to first expose corruption within their own families before targeting powerful figures.
Aravind and this team heeds Senpathy's summons and embarks on their mission, which gives rise to numerous complications.
Will Senapathy achieve success in his latest mission, or will he be compelled to return once more after a period of absence?
Artistes’ Performances:
Kamal Haasan played two distinct characters in the original film - a seasoned freedom fighter named Senapathy and his son. In this sequel, Kamal assumes the role of Senapathy, now as a centenarian. Though Kamal Haasan dons a variety of getups, his performance is consistently ordinary, lacking the exceptional qualities for which he is renowned.
Siddharth is given a more significant role and excels in a specific scene involving his parents in the second half.
Bobby Simha portrays a conventional CBI character in a predictable manner. SJ Suryah and Brahmanandam make brief appearances in the film.
Samuthirakani's performance is good. Rakul Preet Singh and Priya Bhavani Shankar are given roles that can be considered more as cameo appearances, as they lack any significant importance in the story.
Technical Excellence:
Two prominent elements that greatly contribute to Shankar's film are the songs and the impressive technical aspects. This film is a complete failure in these two aspects, particularly Anirudh Ravichander's songs which are exceedingly dull.
The film includes a single, complete song at the start, performed by Demi-Leigh Tebow. Although the song was picturised with great extravagance, the song lacks any memorable quality.
The cinematography by Ravi Varman is executed in a conventional manner. However, Lyca Productions, the production company, has made a huge financial investment in the elaborate production design.
The editing and dialogue writing by Sreekara Prasad lack any merit.
Highlights:
First Few Mins
Siddharth – Parent's sequence
Drawback:
Dull screenplay
Lack of coherence in Shankar’s ideas
Outdated stuff
Anirudh’s music
Boring presentation
Analysis
Upon its release in 1996, "Bharateeyudu" captivated the entire Indian audience with its terrific storyline, Kamal Haasan's exceptional portrayal of the character Senapathy, Shankar's direction, and Rahman's enchanting musical composition. The film, released in Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu, brought immense joy to viewers. Every aspect of that film was innovative and captivating.
Over the past thirty years, the Indian film industry has undergone a transformation. Today, such getups by an actor scarcely evoke a sense of awe in audiences, as visual effects have significantly advanced across all languages, and themes of vigilante justice have become routine. Shankar, the pioneer of incorporating these elements into commercial Indian cinema, appears to be trapped in the past.
His storyline and screenplay for "Bharateeyudu 2" seem completely outdated. Shankar's notable abilities lie in his talent for extracting catchy songs and his skill in delivering stories that are both entertaining and emotionally impactful. But he does not display any of these qualities in "Bharateeyudu 2." The three-hour-long sequel is a fest of tedious moments.
While the first few minutes are engaging as it sets up the main story, the subsequent sequences until the climax are thoroughly tedious. Aside from Senapathy's murder of three top businessmen, there is no actual narrative in this two-hour runtime. Senapathy's attempt to evade the police by utilizing his "Marmam" technique and adopting various disguises appears to be a repetition of a similar scenario witnessed in the 1996 version.
Even the so-called action scenes, such as Kamal Haasan making a metro train run backward and escaping on a one-wheeled motorbike, are not interesting to watch. Shankar had showcased superior and thrilling action sequences in his previous movies.
Many contemporary Tamil films depict protagonists utilizing social media platforms and YouTube channels to create a movement. Shankar has utilized the same method. Therefore, this narrative method also lacked any newness.
Despite the fact that corruption in India has not diminished at all compared to the 1990s, the current generation of youth and audiences do not relate to the typical sequences of bribery in government offices. It has become an accepted norm.
Shankar appears unsure of how to make Senapathy's character relatable to today's audiences. The film concludes with a trailer for "Bharateeyudu 3," in which Kamal Haasan fully embraces a warlike mode and reveals the backstory of his romantic relationship with Kajal's character. Shankar appears to have moved this film's main sequences to the third part, resulting in a complete lack of excitement in this installment.
Overall, whether you are from the 1990s generation that enjoyed Shankar's first part of "Bharateeyudu" or a modern-day viewer, your chances of liking "Bharateeyudu 2" are slim. The film lacks both a compelling story and an entertaining narrative. Kamal Haasan's performance and getups do not impress, and Shankar's treatment of this old story is rather bland.
Bottom line: Zero Interest
