Movie: Drishyam 2
Drishyam 2 Cast: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Asha Sarath, Siddique, Murali Gopy, K. B. Ganesh Kumar
Drishyam 2 Director: Jeethu Joseph
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While Indian cinema, be it Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood or any wood has always held its head high in the thriller genre, few have ever come close to matching the dexterity found in the movies by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Teesri Mazil (1966), Ittefaq (1969), Kaun (1999), Dhund (1973), Andhadhun (2018) from Hindi cinema; Ratsasan (2018), Visaranai (2015), Thupparivaalan (2017) for Tamil cinema; Awe (2018 when it comes to Telugu films; and Baishe Srabon (2011) for Bengali movies are the ones that immediately come to mind. When it comes to Mollywood or Malayalam cinema, Drishyam (2013) is still the granddaddy of them all. So, when you returns for round two, the pressure is no doubt there to be right on the money again. Does Director Jeethu Joseph deliver, especially after his recent setbacks (Mr. & Mrs. Rowdy, The Body, Thambi)? Well, it looks like Mohanlal brings the best out of Jeethu, because not only does he roar back to form with Drishyam 2, but also makes you wonder why he made us wait this long for the sequel while peddling forgettable fare in the interim.
Scroll down for my full Drishyam 2 review...
What's it about
Six years have passed since the events of Drishyam, and Georgekutty (Mohanlal) and his family believe they've finally put all the unpleasantness behind them like a bad dream. However, even the best of plans always have one minor loophole, and this time it arrives in the form of a deus ex machina that no one would've imagined in their wild dreams. That coupled with a few unexpected red herrings drudge up the past, literally and figuratively, bringing the family at a crossroads once again. However, the cops have another thing coming if they think Georgekutty is going to go down that easily.
Check out the Drishyam 2 trailer here...
What's hot
Just like the first film, Drishyam 2 also takes time to set up, and like its predecessor, the buildup is well worth the wait. At two and a half hours, not once do you feel the length, as post an hour into the movie, once the ball really starts rolling, all you wish to do is strap in for the ride and never get off. Keeping the essence of Drishyam in tact, not once does Jeethu Joseph's screenplay lose sight of the 'family first' ethos of the main characters, even while enjoying playing hide and seek with our senses — the rug is pulled from beneath our feet at several key moments, and each time you enjoy it even more.
If his writing is on point, then Jeethu's direction is a step ahead, bringing back all the tributaries from the first movie and merging them with the river of Georgekutty's family. Of course, it pays to have to have actors of the caliber of Mohanlal, Meena, Asha Sarath, Siddique and Murali Gopy do all the heavy lifting, with talented youngsters like Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil lending them competent support. Technically, too, the film is brilliant, with Satheesh Kurup's camerawork and lighting changing the tone as per the film's various moods, V. S. Vinayak's editing keeping things hurtling along at a brisk pace in spite of the run time and Anil Johnson's background score elevating the tension whenever required.
What's not
While 2013's Drishyam also demanded a bit of suspension of disbelief as far as the red herrings go (truth be told, the entire fun is in that, or else go be a prude and only watch Shakespeare), a few (and just very few) of the red herrings here border on the highly implausible, especially a couple during the climax. That being said, it's here where a Director's expertise comes to play, and as mentioned earlier, Jeethu Joseph never loses grip off his narration once through the movie.
BL Verdict
Some of the sharper bends are not quite as Hitchcockian as the first Drishyam was all the way through, but with 99% of its twists and turns certain to evoke repeated 'WOWS', Drishyam 2 is as wonderful a sequel as any Mohanlal fan could have wished for to his sublime 2013 classic. He and Director Jeethu Joseph play 'fool me once, fool me twice' with the cops, and you wish they'd fool us over and over again. I'm going with 4 out of 5 stars.
Rating :
4 out of 5
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