Drishyam 2 Review: A replica of its predecessor but with a dragged screenplay and not-so-surprising plot twist.

Director : Jeethu Joseph

Platform : In the Theatres

The movie starts with a grippy opening act followed by a title sequence with snapshots from the previous film. This sequence not only brushes up the audience’s memory, but most importantly, gives rise to an ardent feeling of nostalgia. And why not? This is the movie that we’ve all loved for the past few years for its clever plot, strong screenplay and interesting characters. Did Drishyam 2 do justice or was it a terrible decision to extend the what-we-thought as a standalone movie?

I won’t go into the story much (as it would ruin the experience of people who do not know about this movie). But I’ll briefly summarize the first part: A family of four lives in Goa. One night a member murders a boy and the whole family covers up for it. Police involvements become evident when some clues surface up.

Drishyam 2, the sequel, takes place after 7 years following the events of the first part. Though the first part had a conclusive end, the way the creators planned to extend the sequel was well thought out but needed better execution.

Drishyam 2 tries too hard to be equivalent to its last part, such that the screenplay has similar scenes from its predecessor. We see the family going for a day trip with a song being played in the background (again), an intensive interrogation scene (again), the characters getting intimidated by the police (again). By the end, 75% of the movie was a replica of the first part with only 25% new addition.

Look, I would have no problem watching the exact same story again (I have already watched the first part around 5-6 times). So no big deal, right? But this second part had its flaws. Firstly, the story takes almost one and a half hours to pick up. The trailer shows us the confession video of the protagonist and I expected the movie to start with that. Still, that scene arrived very late in the film.

Also, 7 years have passed. In these years people and their conditions change. While the protagonist’s (Ajay Devgan) business is on the rise, other aspects remain unchanged. Hiding a murder does take a toll on people and there is an instance where a character develops a medical condition. Except that, we see no changes. The protagonist’s daughters do not have much part to play which is again a missed opportunity.

Now, discussing the next 25% (the new addition). A new detective is introduced to the story whose dialogues are so distanced from reality. This character doesn’t bring any emotions to the table to the extent that he could have just been cut out from the movie. He also has some ridiculous scenes in the movie. Instead of inducing hatred, these scenes make him look stupid.

In addition, the movie has a big plot twist which everybody is freaking out about. For me, the twist did not work and needed to be more convincing. It feels like the writers just clubbed and created a very innovative twist to be par with the first part.

Time for the verdict: I have never experienced a movie like Drishyam (2015); it was exciting, suspenseful and a true ‘edge of the seat’ film. Drishyam 2 is not a worthy extension. It looks like the sequel’s objective is to feed us with another surprising twist without delving deep into the other aspects of the story. A formula that worked before, may not work again!

Trailer:

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