Cast: Karthi, SJ Suryah, Malavika Mohanan, Ashika Ranganath, Yogi Babu, Rajisha Vijayan
Direction: P S Mithran
Music: GV Prakash Kumar
After all the hype surrounding Toxic and disappointing audiences, here comes another over-hyped film, Sardar 2, that promises a big spy adventure but ends up testing the audience’s patience. Karthi has built a good following among Telugu audiences with films like Khaidi, but this boring film is going to dent his ratings.
The film brings Karthi back in a dual role, with a father-and-son story at the centre of a dangerous RAW mission. A mysterious key, an old operation in Japan, and a biological weapon set the story in motion. The basic idea is not bad at all. In fact, there is enough scope here for a solid thriller. The problem is the way it is executed.
The first half starts on a reasonably interesting note. The investigation into a mysterious agent leads to an old mission, and the film does stay on its main track. That is probably its biggest positive. There are no unnecessary side tracks for the sake of it.
But the scenes themselves are often hard to take seriously. The Japan portions are the biggest offenders. The military plane episode, with Karthi and Malavika Mohanan jumping out of planes and performing action stunts in mid-air, is supposed to be thrilling but ends up looking unintentionally funny. The film plays everything with a straight face, which somehow makes the silliness even more noticeable.
The emotional portions involving children do not create much impact either. Karthi’s flashback portions fail to add the expected weight, while Malavika’s scenes involving the dangerous machine lack tension.
The second half is where the film really loses its way. Karthi has to move through different floors, solving one puzzle after another to reach the machine. The whole setup feels unnecessarily complicated and repetitive. Instead of building suspense, it simply becomes tiring. The pre-climax and climax are stretched far beyond what the material can support.
Karthi is decent in the younger portions of his dual role, but the older look is distracting, with the makeup and getup failing to convince. Malavika gets a few action moments but has limited scope. Ashika Ranganath is barely given anything substantial to do.
SJ Suryah goes completely over the top. His loud dialogue delivery and exaggerated mannerisms make the villain look more cartoonish than threatening. Yogi Babu’s comedy also feels forced and out of place.
Adding to the audience’s woes, the film is too long, too loud, and often unintentionally funny. What should have been a gripping father-son mission ends up being a tiring misfire.
