The film tires you in the name of entertainment. The angry cop has grown
full size and is now on the shelf in a XXL size. Resultantly he is also a
menace. Arguably, it started with a lanky angry young man fighting the
comparatively harmless Loin in his den ‘chained’ by the law. Today our cinema
does not respect the Rule of Law. It celebrates violence. It salutes the flexed
muscle – that remains flexed and agitated. It is often stated that art and
social values reflect each other, mirror one and another entice and encourage
symbiotically. So it is a sad commentary that our cinema (implying our life
styles) is getting louder and more violent.
Singham II is a recognition of a collective that advocates the belief that ends
justify means. In the melodramatic precincts of Cinema South everything is a
hyperbole and so is the repeat of the success formula. The old fashioned
parallel lanes of good and evil meeting in the climax is steadily replaced with
scripts that start with evil and violence and based on where you come from it
is justified and/or unjustified. So is it here.
The film (all of two hours and 46 minutes) is completely dedicated to violence.
Now stylised, now brutal. Here glass shattering, there screeching. Some times
smart, often loud. It is red, different hues of red: Bloody red.
Our protagonist the Angry DSP Narasimham (Surya) takes off from where he left.
In fact, lest you have forgotten he carries some left overs for connectivity.
As a sequel to the box office magic prequel Singham, here too most of the
characters return in full swing and thematically are the ones who are punch
hungry – give or take!!
Narasimham has to fight illegal transport of arms from the shores of Kakinada
the instance of the Home Minister (Vijay Kumar) and incognito. He thus becomes
a NCC Instructor in a local school where he meets up with Divya (Hansika
Motwani). In disguise he is stalking the law breakers in the midst of item
songs and runs into an full fledged narcotic under world with players who
include Divya’s uncle (Rahman) local don (Mukesh Rishi) and international don (Danny
Sapani).
The script leads to he making a dramatic declaration that he is the DSP and
hell breaks loose. Violence of the scale of a small civil war erupts and the
script travels from one long spell of thrills stunts and fights to another of
fights stunts and trills. Miniscule moments of romance (Anushka is still there
waiting for her love to return and it does in flash songs and dances!!) and a
comparatively longer dose of the comedy track (Vivek and Santanam) fight hard
for a foot hold in a script dedicatd to violence and drenched in blood. In fact
the script has more use of bullets that punctuation marks. Like the promos
(trailers: when Prakash Mehra made Zanjeer four decades ago!) the film is full
throated screaming over the top and thumping to shatter is the structural
engineering of the story, screenplay and direction.
Narasimham now moves on to Operation D to get Danny the villain into the police
net and catch him red handed (literaly). In the process you are served with
huge dosages of meaningless violence. Protagonist DSP and antagonist D work out
the mechanisms of Operation D and the film’s D is of the belief that that
succeeds excess.
While the audience chuckles, shudders, shivers at the violence the film maker
and the star are so involved in fleshing the Frankenstein that you are looking
for the escape route.
Santanam as the comedian stands out in a cast that is efficient and delivers
just what is asked. He is the redeeming feature. Surya is a combo of Rajni,
Ravi Teja and Sunny (Deol!). Larger than life over dramatic this actor is
surely a victim of his own image. Some day he will return to playing a role
that is more human and bid adieu to roles that compare with wild animals of the
jungle!!
L. Ravichander