The first film’s existence is a mystery. Even more mysterious is the decision to produce a sequel. What was so special about “Sardar” that demanded another chapter? I’m sure it must’ve been enjoyable for some, but in a world where “Vikram” exists and has already set a benchmark of sorts in Tamil cinema, why would “Sardar”, which felt like low-rent versions of “Vikram” and “Jawan”, be given top priority?
Still, I was curious. There are areas in “Sardar” that I thought were neatly done. The fights. The persona of Sardar (Karthi in old man get-up). The theme of putting one’s duty above self-glory. The evolution of his publicity-hungry son into a man closer to his father. These are only the few off the top of my head. Because “Sardar” isn’t a film with many merits. Relatively, “Sardar 2” is a better experience — but not necessarily enough to qualify as a great, or even good, movie. Fortunately, its urge to cram in way too much information isn’t so pronounced as in its predecessor.
But this time around, it tries to be way too many MOVIES. It wants to be a “Mission Impossible”, an “Indiana Jones”, a Dan Brown-style mystery adventure, while simultaneously also wanting to be a social message movie. It also wants to be a comedy (badly done) and tragedy (badly done) at the same time. Basically, a Tamil masala movie and a sophisticated Hollywood movie at the same time. Not exactly the ideal combination.
You see, this is what happens when you try to do that: You end up with a movie that’s neither here nor there. Its ambition is admirable. It amps up the stakes considerably compared to the original. For example, it goes to Japan (some locations seemed the CGI-enhanced versions of areas in Mumbai and Tamil Nadu) and makes us witness a big aerial stunt. It forgoes the need to include a song or two, to begin with. It brings in an interesting villain for a change — interesting, not because of the character, but because it happens to be played by an actor who is a joy to watch, no matter how hyper-theatrical he gets. He is a relief, because I cannot deal with another Hindi-speaking actor forced to play a Tamil-speaking actor with dubbing assistance. For a while there, I hoped this wouldn’t be another social message movie, but since this is a PS Mithran movie, that message is bound to show up at some point, unfortunately.
That said, I got a small kick out of one little bit. Mithran seems to be perfectly aware that putting a message in a movie isn’t exactly going to change the world in a fortnight, because he makes the villain take a dig at the first movie’s message while also delivering the message of THIS movie in a comical verbal exchange. Speaking of which, you can clearly see why SJ Suryah was cast as the villain. Before the aforementioned scene, there is an elaborate sequence where Suryah, in his trademark hypnotic manner, delivers an extensive monologue that involves a riddle, presented to all the main and supporting characters. It's Suryah at his most exaggerated — and that’s not the only place where he is — and you can tell the actor gets immense pleasure out of playing such characters. And it’s the main reason why “Sardar 2” is moderately more tolerable than the first one.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie fails to generate any level of excitement or emotional reaction. In that department, it’s no different from its predecessor. Everything is surface level. It relies heavily on Sam CS to deliver, hopefully, pieces of music that can make us feel something, but what it almost manages to achieve is a migraine. For a spy movie to be appealing, the bare minimum is a charismatic protagonist, aided by inventive filmmaking. Neither is found here.
Let’s face it: Karthi is a good actor, but he is not Tom Cruise. As a huge fan of Karthi’s performance in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s “Kaithi”, I must say that the “Sardar” franchise is ill-suited for him. Kanagaraj knew how to make the best use of the actor. Of course, Mithran pulls off, barely, some interesting things with the Sardar persona, with a traumatic backstory that explains the shaky hands we saw in the first, but it also feels awkward in terms of the timelines. Malavika Mohanan gets to show off some swag, but her character was woefully underwritten, with a ridiculous resolution. Ashika Renganath, despite being in damsel-in-distress mode, is, for some strange reason, given a gun during a crucial situation when you know for sure that giving her any weapon is useless, considering how her character is written.
And there is the length. Some movies shouldn’t be three hours long, man. They are basically like that kid in the exam hall who knows he doesn’t know the answers to some of the questions, can leave an hour before the bell rings, but keeps filling the paper with useless, unrelatable passages with no logical sense — or, to borrow a line from the villain’s riddle: filling it with air. What’s the point, really?
Film: Sardar 2
Director: PS Mithran
Cast: Karthi, SJ Suryah, Malavika Mohanan, Ashika Renganath, Nasser, Ashish Vidyarthi, Yogi Babu, Nizhalgal Ravi, Rajisha Vijayan
Rating: 1.5/5
