Director - Nelson Dilipkumar
Cast: Rajinikanth, Vidya Balan, Ramya Krishnan, Mithun Chakraborty, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Namo Narayana, Yogi Babu
Where: In theatres
Rating: 3 Stars
The year 2023 saw the release of the superstar Rajinikanth’s film Jailer, which proved to be a blockbuster. It’s always a given that, every Rajinikanth’s film becomes a festival in itself! This week sees the release of yet another ‘festival’ in the form of Jailer 2. Will this film proved to be a box office boom or will it spell doom is what we will be analysing.
Jailer 2 starts off from where Jailer ended. Tiger Muthuvel Pandian (Rajinikanth), his wife (Ramya Krishnan), daughter and grandson are fighting every moment to recover from the loss of Arjun (Vasanth Ravi). On the other hand, Varman’s (Vinayakan) friend Dileep (Suraj Venjaramoodu) is searching for the person responsible for the former’s death. This revenge and vengeance bring him face to face with Tiger.
Whether Tiger succeeds in eliminating his enemies or the reverse happens is unveiled as the film progresses.
Actors' performance
It’s an absolute no brainer to say that the film rests and rides on the shoulders of the one and only Rajinikanth! Right from the first frame till the last, its only Rajinikanth all the way! There is never a moment when you even feel like looking elsewhere when he is on screen!
While Vidya Balan tries too hard to play the cigarette-smoking villain, there are places where she tends to become a bit caricaturish. Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty embodies his character despite the limited screentime. While Nora Fatehi is effective in the item number, ironically, her item number is ineffective in the film!
Cameos by Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Dr Shiva Rajkumar, Vijay Sethupathi and even Hrithik Roshan oscillate from being bearable to ‘God knows what is he doing here!’ Even though he looks stunning, Hrithik Roshan fails to deliver the impact the audience expected from his character! Except for a couple of intense scenes, Ramya Krishnan’s presence is hardly felt in the film. Actors Namo Narayana and Yogi Babu give many reasons to laugh.
Direction, Music and Aesthetics
Just like Jailer, director Nelson Dilipkumar successfully captures the trademark Rajini-isms of Rajinikanth himself in Jailer 2. Even though there are many cinematic liberties in the film, Nelson tries his best not to let the film stray from its narrative.
Picture this: We can believe and digest without a doubt that Rajinikanth can kill 100 henchmen with laser rays emitting from his glares. But a villain trying to escape in a jet plane that stops exactly in front of Rajinikanth as if it were seeking forgiveness becomes a bit ‘diffi-cult’ to digest!
The film’s background music (Anirudh Ravichander) is an absolute banger! Despite the presence of a couple of hummable tracks, they don’t leave an everlasting impact… totally unlike the BGM!
The film’s cinematography (Vijay Kartik Kannan) is splendid. Watertight editing in the film’s second half could have avoided the film being stretched endlessly!
FPJ verdict
While the film Jailer 2 ends with a door for the film’s third instalment, all you need to do is open the door and go to your nearest cinemas and see the film. Barring a bunch of scenes and situations, the film is surely recommended for each and every Rajnikanth fan! After all, there is hardly anything that … ‘Rajni-Cant!’
