Drishyam 2 Movie Review Rating: 

Star Cast: Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran, Akshaye Khanna, Tabu, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav, Saurabh Shukla, Rajat Kapoor

Director: Abhishek Pathak

( Photo Credit – Poster from Drishyam 2 )

What’s Good: Ajay Devgn’s attempt at matching the Mohanlal magic!

What’s Bad: Abhishek Pathak’s attempt at adding things to Jeetu Joseph’s tried and tested recipe

Loo Break: Do whatever you want to, just don’t move in the last hour!

Watch or Not?: Read the headline once again for this!

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 142 Minutes

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7 years later, our smartest common man Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) has now leveled up in society, from being a cable operator to being a theatre owner who also decides what films to play for maximum profit after reviewing them. The family doesn’t stay all happy as the Police re-enter their life and this time it’s IG Tarun Ahlawat (Akshaye Khanna), a colleague of Meera Deshmukh (Tabu).

Tarun invests a couple of years in Vijay’s family to gather some proof to prove them guilty in court. Once he finds something, he gathers them all and if you’ve seen the prequel you know the drill. The last hour of the film is all about how Vijay again goes to every extent to protect his family from going to jail for a crime they’ve committed while defending themselves.

( Photo Credit – Still from Drishyam 2 )

Drishyam 2 Movie Review: Script Analysis

Before I start to pour my heart out regarding what’s good & bad about the film, let’s make one thing clear: this is a remake & when I praise certain things about it, the actual credit should go to Jeethu Joseph for achieving that back in 2021. I especially gave the disclaimer because of kudos to Jeetu for maintaining the continuity of the narrative. Ajay‘s version also benefits a lot from the goods of the OG but it’s the unnecessary additions that spoiled the party for me.

The forced addition of bringing the ‘corrupt’ goon Gaitonde back, messes with the lead investigator’s (Akshaye Khanna) character to almost make him look ‘limited’ with his research hence downplaying the combat between the two opposite forces. Jeethu’s version, while building the plot, had a certain intrigue built around its side characters from the village which is vehemently missing in this one. Sudhir K. Chaudhary’s camerawork does give a more polished feel to the gloomy setup, but when I think of it Jeethu’s attempt of ‘keeping it basic’ with Satheesh Kurup had a better impact than this.

Drishyam 2 Movie Review: Star Performance

When you think of actors remaking Mohanlal’s magic from the original, there is no other perfect option than Ajay Devgn to do. The much-talked ability to act through the eyes is what makes both the stars more similar than different. As the helplessness of his character’s state of mind is on the relaxed side for the majority of the film, we don’t get to see the intense side we witnessed in the prequel.

Certain decisions with the character of Shriya Saran’s Nandini make her a weak point, in both, the story & the film. She doesn’t go over the board, but her character does. Akshaye Khanna isn’t the Akshaye Khanna I was expecting. Murali Gopy’s Thomas was a whole lot of cunning & clever than Akshaye’s Tarun. The trailer immediately reminded me of his act from Ittefaq but that’s not the case in the film.

Tabu was as much as she was in the trailer, again certain character decisions making her distant from the viewers compared to the prequel. Ishita Dutta’s Anju never touches on the impact Ansiba’s Anju had with exploring the PTSD around the character. Mrunal Jadhav, too, adds nothing substantial to the narrative. Saurabh Shukla & Rajat Kapoor are decent in their roles.

( Photo Credit – Still from Drishyam 2 )

Drishyam 2 Movie Review: Direction, Music

It happened what was feared the most & Abhishek Pathak shouldn’t have added anything extra from the original. The extras cost the film to deviate from the matter at hand roaming in the no man’s land. The adaption is good, but the addition is not!

Did I miss Vishal Bhardwaj + Gulzar’s combo? Yes! Did I mind DSP + Amitabh Bhattacharya’s attempt? No. I definitely missed the intensity of Dum Ghutta Hai. King’s debut in Bollywood could’ve been better than Sahi Galat but unfortunately, that plays when the credit rolls.

Drishyam 2 Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, yes, the last hour does bounce back the lost interest but that’s the issue because the OG was more than just a jaw-dropping climax.

Two and a half stars!

Drishyam 2 Trailer

Drishyam 2 releases on 18 November, 2022.

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