Movie: Drishyam 2
Drishyam 2 Cast: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Asha Sarath, Siddique, Murali Gopy, KB Ganesh Kumar
Director Drishyam 2: Jeethu Joseph
Streaming On: Amazon Prime
Although Indian cinema, whether Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood or any other type of wood has always stood out in the suspense genre, few have come close to matching the dexterity found in the films by the suspense master Alfred Hitchcock. Teesri Mazil (1966), Ittefaq (1969), Kaun (1999), Dhund (1973), Andhadhun (2018) of 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 films are the ones that come to mind immediately. When it comes to Mollywood or Malayalam cinema, Drishyam (2013) is still the grandfather of all of them. you go back to the second round, the pressure is undoubtedly to get the money right again. Does director Jeethu Joseph comply, especially after his recent setbacks (Mr. and Mrs. Rowdy, The Body, Thambi)? It seems that Mohanlal brings the best of Jeethu, because he not only returns to form with Drishyam 2, but also makes you wonder why he made us wait so long for the sequel while selling forgettable food in the meantime.
Scroll down to see my full review of Drishyam 2 …
What is it about
Six years have passed since the events of Drishyam, and Georgekutty (Mohanlal) and his family believe that they have finally put all the displeasure behind them as a nightmare. However, even the best of plans always has a small gap, and this time it comes in the form of a deus ex machina that no one would have imagined in their wild dreams. This, along with some unexpected false leads, dragged the past, literally and figuratively, bringing the family at a crossroads once again. However, the police have something else coming if they think Georgekutty will fall so easily.
Check out the trailer for Drishyam 2 here …
What’s new
Like the first film, Drishyam 2 also takes time to set up and, like its predecessor, it is worth waiting for the buildup. At two and a half hours, not once do you feel the duration, as after an hour in the movie, once the ball really starts rolling, all you want to do is put your seat belt on and never get out. Keeping the essence of Drishyam intact, Jeethu Joseph’s script does not lose sight of the ‘family first’ ethos of the main characters, even while playing hide-and-seek with our senses – the rug is pulled under our feet at various times, and every time you enjoy it even more.
If your writing is correct, then Jeethu’s direction is one step ahead, bringing back all the tributaries of the first film and merging them with the Georgekutty family river. Of course, it’s worth having actors of the caliber of Mohanlal, Meena, Asha Sarath, Siddique and Murali Gopy doing all the heavy lifting, with talented young people like Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil giving them competent support. Technically, too, the film is brilliant, with Satheesh Kurup’s camera work and lighting changing the tone according to the film’s various climates, VS Vinayak’s editing keeping things running at an accelerated pace despite the time of execution and the background score of Anil Johnson raising the tension whenever necessary.
What is not
Although the 2013 Drishyam also required a little suspension of disbelief when it came to false leads (truth be told, all the fun is in it, or else go be a prude and just watch Shakespeare), some (and very few) the false leads here border the highly implausible, especially a couple during the climax. That said, this is where a director’s experience comes into play and, as mentioned earlier, Jeethu Joseph never loses control of his narration once in the film.
BL verdict
Some of the sharpest curves are not as Hitchcockian as the first Drishyam went all the way, but with 99% of its twists and turns evoking repeated ‘WOWS’, Drishyam 2 is a sequence as wonderful as any Mohanlal fan could have wished for his sublime classic of 2013. He and director Jeethu Joseph play “cheat me once, cheat me twice” with the cops, and you would like them to cheat us over and over again. I go with 4 out of 5 stars.
4 out of 5
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