Vishwaroopam 2 Movie Review: Kamal Haasan Fails the Mission As Well His Fans

If Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam 2 is to be one of his last films before he plunges full time into politics, it is, by no means, anywhere close to being a vote clincher. Haasan, who has written and directed the latest thriller – hardly thrilling though – has managed to produce a messy, often incoherent movie, the only motive of which is to further his political journey (or so it appears), which began some months ago. And, to use a cliché, he leaves no stone unturned to talk about his patriotism and hatred for traitors.

Vishwaroopam 2 rolls exactly from the point where the first part ended. Wisam Ahmed Kashmiri (Haasan) is an over-enthusiastic Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer, who after having saved New York from going up in flames, sets off to tackle what is billed as “the biggest non-nuclear explosion in the world”.

Rahul Bose's Omar Quereshi returns as a mastermind terrorist allowing Haasan's exploits to get even bloodier. The path is littered with bodies and betrayal, and seemingly innocent men turn dirty and dangerous.

With Anant Mahadevan, a fascinating actor, and an equally talented Shekar Kapoor made to look like inane caricatures, Wisam has the entire playing field all to himself. His wife, Nirupama (Puja Kumar), who has a fancy sounding title, Nuclear Oncologist, and fellow RAW agent, Ashmita (Andrea Jeremiah), provide the glamour, and it may seem incredulous that Kashmiri and Nirupama are also on another mission: that to consummate their marriage, and this in the middle of the intrigue and action.

Stranger by far is the fact that a supposedly dangerous assignment is allowed to degenerate into sheer frivolity. While Nirupama looks desperate to keep her husband away from the clutches of Ashmita, the RAW operative appears more interested in getting her hands on him than on the explosives. Really, I fail to understand how a brilliant actor like Haasan (who can forget him in Nayagan, for instance) could slip into such a shoddy, convoluted sequel, which fails to put its point across. A rank bad effort that is eminently avoidable.

Rating: 1.5/5

(Gautaman Bhaskaran is an author, commentator and movie critic)