Among all the things that Gadar 2 aims to achieve, it surely hits the bull's eye in one aspect—evoking nostalgia. Back in 2001, when the original Gadar was released, 'Udja Kale Kawan' became a superhit, even as Sunny Deol stole hearts as the lovable Sardar who could dance, sing, love, and fight with equal passion. That is the kind of expectation that Gadar 2 had to meet; but alas, it couldn't. This is nothing but an unnecessary sequel that ended up becoming a hotchpotch. Neither Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) nor his wife Sakeena (Ameesha Patel) have any impact on us; they are simply forgotten the moment the film is over.
Director Anil Sharma casts his son, Utkarsh (the same little boy who played Tara Singh's son 21 years back), in a bid to take the story forward, but the plot lacks the necessary power and punch to keep us absorbed. The story goes like this; high on patriotism, Tara Singh goes on a rampage in Pakistan again, this time to rescue his son from the clutches of the cruel and venomous Major General Hamid Iqbal who wants to avenge the death of his family during Partition and 40 soldiers whom Tara Singh had killed while rescuing Sakeena from Pakistan.
As the fear of war between India and Pakistan looms large, Lieutenant Colonel Devendra Rawat from Punjab asks Tara's help to deploy his trucks and send ammunition at the border to help Indian soldiers. In the firing that ensues, Tara disappears along with six Indian soldiers. Charanjit Singh (Utkarsh Sharma) Tara's son thinks his father may have been taken captive by Pakistan and goes to the country to bring him back. In the process, he gets captured and it is up to Tara to come to his rescue.
Everything happens so abruptly in the movie, and it almost feels like a video game being played out on a big screen.
Utkarsh looks good in wide shots, but he fails to emote convincingly during close-up scenes. While the first half shows him as an innocent young guy aspiring to be an actor, he turns into a bearded action hero in the second half. Sunny Deol's talent sizzles on screen, both during action sequences as well as lighter, romantic scenes. However, there are multiple times when he goes overboard and comes across as garrulous and vain as if the gifted actor is trying hard to make an impact. Ameesha Patel is mostly wooden-faced, failing to convey the rage and despair her character has.
Overall, Gadar can be missed if the other films playing in theatres at the same time are worth your time.
'Gadar 2' movie cast: Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, Utkarsh Sharma, Simrat Kaur, Manish Wadhwa, Gaurav Chopra, Rakesh Bedi
'Gadar 2' movie director: Anil Sharma
'Gadar 2' movie rating: 1/5