Bharateeyudu 2 is Kamal Haasan‘s latest film and is the sequel to the hit yesteryear film, Bharateeyudu. Well, after a round of huge promotions, the film has hit the screens today. Let’s see if the film lives up to the hype or not.
Story: The film is set in the current year of 2024, and Chitra(Siddharth), along with his friends, runs a YouTube channel that reports frauds and the ones who are corrupt. After a while, as the crime and corruption got out of hand, they trend a hashtag #comebackindian. Seeing all this, Indian(Kamal Haasan)makes an entry and starts punishing the corrupt people around him. A point comes where he targets even the family members of Chitra and his friends, and this creates more issues in the narrative, and the people who wanted Indian ask him to Go Back. How all this unfolds on the big screen is the basic story of the film.
Performances: Kamal Haasan delivers a decent performance, bringing his usual charm and expressions to the role. He does a solid job in all the fight sequences. Siddharth stands out with a commendable performance, especially in the emotional scenes. He is the main highlight of the film as he gets many scenes in the sequel. Samuthirakani impresses despite limited screen time. Bobby Simha and the rest of the cast are satisfactory in their respective roles. Priya Bhavani Shankar, Vivek, and Nadimudi Venu are okay with their roles.
Technical Aspects: Shankar can be praised for reviving Senapathi to combat modern-day corruption. However, the film suffers from a lack of compelling drama and a weak screenplay, leading to a subpar experience. Anirudh’s music is disappointing and does little to elevate the film. Ravi Varman‘s cinematography is adequate, but tighter editing by A. Sreekar Prasad could have improved the pacing. Nonetheless, the production values are commendable.
Analysis: The movie opens by highlighting the rampant corruption in the country, setting the stage for the story. The concepts behind Siddharth’s YouTube channel and the #ComeBackIndian campaign, although simple, hold the promise of elevating the film with Senapathy’s return. The second half of Indian 2 is somewhat better than the first due to increased drama, though its effectiveness varies.
Indian 2 is directed by Shankar, who created the unforgettable film Indian in 1996. But the film’s central issue lies in the muddled execution of its core idea. Shankar aims to convey that youth should reject the benefits provided by their corrupt parents, obtained through fraudulent practices.
However, he struggles to communicate this with genuine emotion. Instead, he presents a youth uprising against Senapathy, underscoring his failure in the latter part. The second half attempts to resolve every subplot, including Siddharth and Priya discovering their parents’ corruption, but the drama feels contrived and fails to resonate. However, the ending is decent and gives a bit of satisfaction to the audience.
Verdict: On the who, Bharateeyudu 2 is a modern-day social drama that has a great setting. But the narration is not of Shankar’s rage and disappoints a bit. But the second half is better and ends the film for the third part. Just keep your expectations in check while you watch the movie.
Bottom Line – Has its moments
Rating: 2.5/5
