Anil Sharma’s latest directorial film “Gadar 2” is now playing in theatres. A sequel to one of the Bollywood’s most iconic film “Gadar: Ek Prem Katha” starring Sunny Deol & Ameesha Patel. While all his previous outings since “Gadar: Ek Prem Katha” have been receiving cold response from critics and audiences alike, does “Gadar 2” bring him back into the game?
Set during the backdrop of “Crush India” campaign in 1971, Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) goes missing during a skirmish on the border and is believed to be imprisoned in Pakistan. Learning this, Tara’s son Charanjeet “Jeete” Singh (Utkarsh Sharma) goes to save him, but Tara is not in Pakistan and Jeete gets imprisoned and tortured by the Pakistan soldiers under Major General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa), who wants to exact revenge on Tara for eliminating his 40 men during his escape with his wife Sakeena and Jeete from Pakistan in 1947. Learning about this after reuniting with Sakeena (Ameesha Patel), Tara sets out to rescue Jeete from Hamid Iqbal and his men.
Anil Sharma’s ‘ambition’ overrides his ‘storytelling’ and that’s the biggest issue of his script. Everything looks extremely cool visually, but the whole argument behind making things cool is weak. It comes with some similar issues as part 1 like why is everyone talking so loud with everyone? I wanted to keep a track of how long any scene could be silent, but it was so loud, I couldn’t concentrate.
Just to clarify, I don’t mind loudness in films, I’ve loved movies like KGF, Rowdy Rathore and likes. But this one doesn’t just leave your mind numb, but it does the same thing with your ears as well.
Najeeb Khan’s camerawork elevates the already monumentally mounted action sequences.
But the same Class-A cinematography goes against the feel of the film when it rushes from one place to another in Sunny Deol’s combat scenes.
Part 1 was enough to register why there could be no one else apart from Sunny Deol to get the machismo of Tara Singh with such accuracy & swag. The sequel just strengthens the similar thought further. Makers make sure to keep Tara Singh on the pedestal boasting his high-octane presence in every alternate scene. The way he delivers his dialogues, one can’t help but listen to him.
Ameesha Patel gets too little to contribute to the narrative. Manish Wadhwa was expected to repeat Amrish Puri from “Gadar: Ek Prem Katha” but due to the story’s myopic treatment, he doesn’t get a single chance to register any intrigue.
Utkarsh Sharma’s Jeete remains one-dimensional throughout the film without creating any major impact.
Anil Sharma, like every other director working with ‘worshipped by fans’ star, gives in to the fan service losing his focus from what should’ve been a raw & earthy treatment of the story. The film celebrates Sunny Deol not once or twice but, in every scene, he is in, it’s just Anil fails to find equally interesting reasons to do so for most of such instances.
Monty Sharma’s background score serves in a huge spectrum from too loud to too trippy. Just like every other thing, even the BGM of this film is on steroids complimenting a few sequences, burdening others. Mithoon’s every single song has been added in my playlist after the film, also the songs are used well in the film according to the situations.
All said and done, this jumps from ‘larger than life’ to ‘larger than god’ treatment and gives Sunny Deol fans another reason to celebrate his heroism. But beneath all the screams and boisterous BGM, one important thing gets suppressed and rarely gets a chance to flourish – intriguing storytelling.
Two and a half stars!
Films Genin 