Drishyam 2

This Mohanlal suspense drama may well go down as yet another modern day classic, raves Joginder Tuteja. You will probably hear a lot about an 'alternate climax' in the days and weeks to come. After all, it makes such a strong point in Drishyam 2 that it would be difficult to escape from it for a long time. Revealing more than this would be a spoiler but I have to admit that like its precursor, Drishyam 2 also has a climax that no one can see coming. Director Jeethu Joseph follows the same template in the sequel as in the original. He takes his time to set up the base of the film, and then set up a tense atmosphere. But the last 30-40 minutes lend such a super strong impact that it may force you to watch the film all over again.

I have to confess I was not a big fan of Drishyam, mostly due to the artificiality of the performances (excluding Mohanlal, of course), especially in the first 45 minutes. But, it picked up after the central conflict reared its ugly head. Drishyam 2, on the other hand, is far superior, not only because it corrects most of the flaws of the original, but also as it amps up the stakes by introducing more characters, thereby expanding the world set up in the first film. It more or less follows the structure of the original. Georgekutty (Mohanlal) had to deal with a threat from a single direction in the first film. This time, however, he has to look in many directions.

Drishyam 2 is a worthy contender to the original. It grabs your attention from the word go and entertains you throughout its two-and-a-half-hour duration. As I said, it’s always difficult to make a sequel that lives up to a successful original - and this case the writer and director further had the challenge of having to stay within the confines of a plot that was already laid out. This definitely couldn’t be one of those sequels where our main man, Georgekutty, jumps into a new world for a new adventure with a new set of characters. Despite being caged in by the limited plot, characters and narrative set by Drishyam, Joseph manages to draw out an impressive and intriguing storyline for the sequel. This is not to say that the film isn’t without its flaws. One wishes that the filmmaker had included a few more sequences to foreshadow the events that tie-in with the climax.