“Why Indian 2?” It was among my first questions to director Shankar Shanmugam when I met him at his Chennai office a couple of days back. He immediately said that every time he came across a headline in the newspaper on bribes and corruption he had always felt that "Indian thatha" should come back to fight it once again.
The film opens with Chitra Aravind (Sidharth) and his team who run a YouTube channel called Barking Dogs. The channel creates satirical content and parodies against corrupt officials, politicians and those who swindle common man’s money.
When Chitra Aravind, Aarthi (Priya Bhavani Shankar) and Thambesh (Jagan) protest against the suicide of a teacher training student, they get arrested. Aravind’s girlfriend Disha (Rakul Preet Singh) comes to bail them out of jail and tells them nothing will change because of his corruption crusades. Aravind then trends a hashtag #ComeBackIndian on social media setting the stage for the entry of Senapathy, a very old varma kalai expert living in Taipei.
The country has witnessed many corruption crusaders like Sidharth’s Barking Dogs. Many journalists and YouTube channels are doing this on social media these days. The long screenplay is too boring with a usual template. The first half is no different compared to the 1996 Indian. In fact Shankar, through Kamal Hassan in the first part spoke in detail against corruption. And years later, the country witnessed Anna Hazare's protests that led to the growth of yet another political party whose chief minister has now landed in jail, over alleged corruption charges. In fact, as a journalist, even this writer has exposed many corrupt politicians.
Society is more polarised today, compared to 1996 and people have come a long way with social media. But the director still sticks to the old template - bribery, medical negligence, education fraud, bank fraud.
Indian 2 also makes a mockery of Ambani, Adani, Vijay Mallya and Legend Saravanan. While a businessman shits in a gold toilet, another purchases land on Mars and yet another makes a bejewelled tortoise crawl up in a woman’s navel. If they are all high-profile businessmen, a motel owner and a fisherwoman who cheat their customers are also brought to task in Indian 2. And then there are corrupt officers - a woman registrar and a vigilance officer who take bribes. Of course, corrupt politicians and officers will have to be dealt with an iron hand. But it is very painful to watch on screen.
In a cruise, Senapathy uses his Varma kalai and recites a Sanskrit shloka before punishing a businessman. After this, the man acts like a woman, his hand gestures are stereotypical. The homophobic act is very disturbing to watch.
A few scenes, however, are gripping towards the end. But in the climax, Kamal rides a monocycle, making us run along with him for more than 15 minutes. Metro train goes into reverse gear, a police officer hangs from an under construction fly over, but Indian thaatha escapes. Indian 2 is extremely boring and painful, making the audience sit for more than two hours without any takeaway at the end.
Unlike Indian, where AR Rahman made his own mark with melodies and background music, Anirudh doesn’t impress. As usual, Shankar’s grandeur stands out and so is Kamal Hassan’s make up making him look like a 100-year-old man.
Yes, as Shankar told me during the interview, Senapathy is back again in his Indian 2. But now I want to tell him that the audience will not accept the second edition of any film if it is not much more brilliant than the first instalment. Now, let us wait for the third edition of the movie to know awaits us next. That's right. Shankar and Kamal Haasan will be back with Indian 3!
Movie: Indian 2
Director: Shankar Shanmugam
Cast: Kamal Haasan, Sidharth, Bobby Simha, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Nedumudi Venu, Vivek, Rahul Preet Singh, Samuthirakani and others.
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
Rating: 2/5