Sandakozhi 2 Review: A Passable, Diluted Yet Fun Entertainer

Sandakozhi 2 is the sequel to the classy entertainer Sandakozhi that came out 13 years ago!

Vishal and Rajkiran are two persons who played a crucial role in the success of Sandakozhi. And they two are back in the sequel as well with the same flavor.

Be it physique or the dialogue delivery or facial expressions, both Vishal and Rajkiran don’t compromise and never seem to have aged.

Linguswamy knows the formula for a fun commercial entertainer and he has put in those ingredients aptly to make a satisfying one.

What the film lacks is the grip that the first film had. In fact, if you completely forget about Sandakozhi and go without any expectations, Sandakozhi 2 will be a good family entertainer for you.

Having said that, the screenplay holds you engaged in the first half, but the second half is rather watered down and moves in a somewhat boring pace.

A couple of songs were forcefully placed and they do annoy.

Sandakozhi 2 is about how the men in the leading roles are bold, have courage, can safeguard their surroundings and are physically fit. And how they safeguard other men from a revenge seeking woman.

It is appreciable that the conventional mode of good men safeguarding women from villain men is given a twist in this movie.

And the woman they have chosen for the villain role is none other than Varalaxmi Sarathkumar who holds the screen every time she appears.

She is not loud all the time (but at times, yes) or does stunts in the air, but still by the looks and by her body language she does absolute justice to the role.

RajKiran and Vishal do shine in their roles. Raj Kiran definitely fits easily and neatly into the role of a respected elder man in a village who is bold and physically fit regardless of his age.

Vishal on the other hand, casually emotes arrogance and boldness while it is needed, and at the same time appears calm and sane when that’s needed.

This fluidity in the emotions adds strength to his character.

Keerthy Suresh‘s role is written as an easy go-girl. She is charming, happy and does some crazy stuff. She also has an accent that is supposed to be cute.

However, as always with this type of a “loosu ponnu” characterization we could not help but notice the “too much” feeling at some places.

At the same time, Keerthy pulls off that role in a rather enjoyable manner.

Vishal comes back as Balu after spending seven years abroad. We have the heads of villages coming together to arrange a festival that has been not happening for a few years now.

The village heads also want the assurance of Pechi (Varalaxmi), who is seeking revenge of her dead husband and is keen on killing the last man in the family.

Durai (Rajkiran) takes responsibility of the safety of the man in trouble and Balu stands with his father in keeping his words.

Perhaps it is high time directors stop making sequels of their blockbusters – they don’t stand up to the expectations. We have had so many in the list including the recent Saamy 2.

But Sandakozhi 2 is not as bad as Saamy 2 and remains enjoyable.

In particular, thankfully, Linguswamy has not done ridiculous stuff like in Saamy 2 in desperate efforts to make connection to the first movie.

The absence of Meera Jasmine’s character in so gracefully dealt with – which is such a huge relief.

The movie however fails to put together all the aspects in the right proportions so we end up feeling left out.

There are also various shortcomings in the detailing part. We could sense lack of reality in the village sentiments and their customs.

Yuvan’s music is loud almost and is less enjoyable. But it does help in the action sequences.

Overall, Sandakozhi 2 is an enjoyable entertainer – one can call it a family entertainer.

If you lower your expectations a lot, excuse the cinematic inclusions and forget about Sandakozhi altogether, you may end up enjoying Sandakozhi 2.