Indian 2 is a 2024 Tamil language action drama film written and directed by Shankar. The film is dubbed into Telugu as Bharateeyudu 2 and hasKamal Haasan, Siddharth, Rakul Preet & SJ Surya playing the lead roles while Priya Bhavani Shankar, Brahmanandam, Bobby Simha, Vivek, Samuthirakani, N. Venu, Kajal Agarwal, Delhi Ganesh, Manobala, Jagan, Kalidas Jayaram, Gulshan Grover, Zakir Hussain, Piyush Mishra, Akhilendra Mishra & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander and the film is produced by Subaskaran under Lyca Productions banner.
Story:
In this sequel to the 1996 film Bharateeyudu, the plot picks up from where the first part ended with Senapathy (Kamal Hassan), an ex-freedom fighter turned vigilante who fought against corruption in India returns to the country from Hong Kong to aid a young man (Siddharth) who has been exposing corrupt politicians in the country through videos on the internet. How Senapathy will fight corruption in the country forms the main plot of the film.
What about on-screen performances?
Kamal Haasan as usual is sincere with his act. He goes all out with his performances and does what is expected out of his character as Senapathy. But his look, make-up, and get-up in a few scenes look odd and could have been done in a much better manner.
Siddharth shines in an important supporting role and does very well in all the emotional scenes.
SJ Surya has very limited scenes but kills it with his performance and presence whenever he comes on screen. His whole get-up is well-designed.
Bobby Simha and Samuthirakani leave a mark with their key supporting characters.
Priya Bhavani Shankar and Rakul Preet Singh are okay in their limited roles.
N. Venu, Brahmanandam, Vivek, Delhi Ganesh, Manobala, Jagan, Kajal Agarwal, Kalidas Jayaram, Gulshan Grover, Zakir Hussain, Piyush Mishra, Akhilendra Mishra & others are fine in their parts.
What about off-screen talents?
The story by Shankar is mediocre. The solution he tries to give for Corruption is not so believable and looks very outdated. Also, the characters look weak and most of the characterization looks very half-baked.
The screenplay too is very poor. Many scenes are stretched out unnecessarily beyond their limit making the audience feel bored, especially in the second half. Even the emotions never click as expected as they are narrated in a very dull and outdated manner.
Director Shankar succeeds in giving a huge scale to the entire film but he fails big time with the writing. The lack of compelling drama and an underwhelming screenplay, he couldn’t recreate the same magic he did with the first part. In fact, this franchise doesn’t require another part as this concept has now become outdated and it is hard to believe the same outcome in these days. Also, the things Senapathy does to fight corruption are not practically possible and it becomes hard to convince this generation of people.
The Telugu dialogues by Hanuman Choudary do not add much value to the plot.
The cinematography by Ravi Varman is the only biggest plus of the film. He makes sure that the canvas of the film is big with his superb camera work and framing.
The music by Anirudh Ravichander sadly doesn’t have any impact on the entire film. His songs remain below average and his background score is unimpressive.
The edit by Sreekar Prasad is poor. The film looks very lengthy and a tighter edit could have at least made this an average film.
The production values by Lyca Productions are grand.
What’s Hot?
* Kamal Haasan’s Performance
* Siddharth’s Performance
* Cinematography & Production Values
What’s Not?
* Outdated Plot & Weak Screenplay
* Too Many Dragged Out Scenes
* Boring Second Half
* Kamal Haasan’s Get Up
* Zero Emotional Connect
* Half Baked Characterizations
* Unnecesary Songs
* Lackluster Background Score
Verdict: On the whole, Bharateeyudu 2 is a complete disappointment for Shankar and Kamal Haasan. The outdated concept, dragged-out screenplay, the lack of emotional depth, and the not-so-believable scenes bring down the film. Can give it a try only for the small glimpse of the third part at the end of the film.
Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2/5