STORY
Seven years after the Deshmukhs lost their son and couldn’t prove that the Salgaonkars were behind his killing, some efforts and developments rekindle the swollen mystery as the Salgaonkars face the heat once again.
INTRODUCTION
Drishyam is now a franchise that was born as a Malayalam film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It has been remade in several Indian languages. It took seven years to produce the Hindi sequel and interestingly, the original cast showed up in the sequel with no changes but additions.
REVIEW
The first film in Drishyam series met with a technical conclusion that can be considered as an open end and an ultimate conclusion at the same time. Continuing from there could have jeopardized the writing as I was unsure how possibly would the writer produce such circumstances. But guess what? That is what a writer is for. It is the beauty of the writing that can unlock any possibility. Therefore, with the highest level of satisfaction, Drishyam 2 faithfully continued and met with yet another incredible conclusion.
Between all this, the aesthetics didn’t drop. In the first half an hour, I felt that the continuity was a mistake but later on, the film proved that all that in the first thirty minutes was for a reason. Although, it took seven years to bring them back to interrogation and the court but why it took seven years to the Deshmukhs? The addition of IG police Tarun Ahlawat, who is also an old friend of Meera Deshmukh, intensifies the proceedings but again, why it took seven years? Why didn’t they took all that action on the Salgaonkars soon after how the first film ended? Perhaps they have been observing the Salgaonkars all these years and eventually dug the hole in the mystery.
With the entire story rolling towards another conclusion, the biggest curiosity was how will the film conclude now? It did met to a terrific end, in fact both the ending of the films were some mind blowing designs. But with this conclusion, the character of Vijay Salgaonkar now really raises my doubts. How is he that smart? The years-long planning to shield his family from any what-ifs needs a careful observation if Vijay is clean. I feel if Vijay has a rough background and he never got exposed. It is my theory that Vijay’s this suspicious angle has not been depicted at all. I want the writer to enlighten this.
PERFORMANCES
Ajay Devgn‘s character may have developed from the first film but I am a little concerned with his own acting. In recent years, his acting has gone cold with not much facial and body language. Shriya Saran and Ishita Dutta have upgraded from their previous performance. Shriya’s panic acting was good and Ishita’s epilepsy acts were fantastic. If anyone observe, the mother-daughter pairing of Shriya Saran and Ishita Dutta looks strange as compared to the first part. Now they look sisters. In real-life, Shriya is only 8 years older than Ishita. Tabu stands tall when it is about displaying how a strong woman will respond in her angst and grief.
Akshaye Khanna, one of the most underrated Bollywood actors of all-time. As usual, never disappointing. But if you carefully observe his recent CV, since his return to acting in 2016, his characters are usually in the law enforcement. He was inspector in Mom, investigation officer in Ittefaq, advocate in Section 375, and now an IG police. I am afraid this can make him a stereotype if he keeps playing similar roles again and again. Even before 2016, he has played these roles several times.
FRANCHISE LEGACY
No matter if Drishyam is a true story or fictitious. The plot of both the films are carefully written. Because if you notice, no one between both the families and the police is wrong or negative at all. They are all right in their own ways. There is only one wrong in the entire franchise and that piece of shit is dead. The plot is a rare and unfortunate situation where both the families are forced to use their power to defend against each other. What makes Drishyam so compelling lies in the roots of writing elements that sticks to realism.
CLOSING REMARKS
The one aspect that this film deserves to have a few minutes is a courtroom drama. It was clearly visible in the last scenes, that there should have been at least ten minutes in the courtroom due to shocking proceedings.
Drishyam 2 makes a solid case of a crime-thriller. The element of suspense and smart screenplay keeps you attentive. Will there be Drishyam 3? It is another open end as well as assumingly an ultimate conclusion. Stretching further may broke the rubber band this time. But again, it is the writer’s art. Drishyam 2 is an extraordinary and a faithful sequel.
RATING 8.2/10
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Sami Naik | Film Critic 