Saamy 2

The creativity part in Saamy 2 (also known as Saamy Square) is so damn pathetic that you might end up appreciating its mediocre climax that is slightly better than the rest of the movie. Boleros are flying, logic was dying and you will wonder what the hell is happening and then the reality that this is a Hari movie will hit and you might end up thinking what else were you expecting? Some of the people inside the theater were laughing for the track comedy featuring Soori and I must say that I envy their ability laugh at these kinds of scenes. Saamy is very much an extension of Singham 3 and if you can bear with that, then go and watch this nearly two and a half hour long torture.

Big Spoiler Alert! Without this, I can’t even review the film. So the story happens 28 years after the death of Aarusaamy. His son Raamsaamy is now an IAS aspirant who works as a front office manager to a central minister from Tamil Nadu. And the villain here is Ravana Pichai who is the son of Perumal Pichai who died in the first movie. The story sort of shifts when Raamsaamy realizes that his parents were killed and how he reacts to that is pretty much what Saamy 2 talking about.

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Remember that Mangalyam Thanthunanena fight sequence from the trailer? That moment in the movie was an Anniyan like transformation combined with Bahubali type reincarnation. A calm and quite Raamsaamy gets charged up and becomes Aarusaamy when the badge and uniform of a police officer get in contact with his body. Yes! Hari’s police officer’s DNA has police components. I was kind of prepared to watch a Hari movie knowing his style and also the trailer. Even though the movie was on the hopeless clichéd side, this sequence and the entire son concept takes the movie to another level of stooping low. Senseless comedy, pointless songs, helicopters, clichéd sentiments, and numerous killings are happening and it is literally a tiring experience for you even if the AC inside the theater is working in full swing. In Hari’s cinematic universe airports doesn’t have check-in and UPI cash transfer has no limits and the president of India is the most easily accessible person.

The only saving grace in this movie for me was the fact that Vikram sort of has that charm to be a young Raamsaamy. But Hari’s decision to make him a 28-year-old IPS officer was a bit too much. Keerthy Suresh is okay when you look at what Hari has made her do in this film. That character is written so amateurishly and the way and reasons for her to fall in love can’t even be called old school because even the old school knows better ways. Soori is the epitome of annoyance in the name of track comedy. Talented Bobby Simha is hired to play Ravana Pichai and all Hari has managed to do was to make him yell. I felt bad for Aishwarya Rajesh for that pointless extended cameo.

Unorthodox camera angles, logic-defying plot twists, presentation of patriarchy as progressiveness etc. have always been the identity of most Hari films and this time with Saamy 2 he is just trying to capitalize on the success of the first film that was in a way a compact one. Here you have the script going all over the place. First, there is a phase showing Aarusaamy, which includes a song. Then we fast forwards to 28 years and there is this romantic track. After the realization about the death of parents there are two narratives happening in the movie and Hari abruptly cuts one of the investigations. Then it’s the sequential killing of villains which also doesn’t offer any surprise. The camera has no rest and the editor is busy speeding up scenes rather than cutting it. For those who felt the original background score of the first movie was better, Hari has kept it in the movie and that was a relief.

Ever since Hari started to glorify his heroes to national and international level, his movies weren’t becoming the so-called masala action flicks. Saamy had clarity in its plot and that made it an entertaining cinema of that time. In Saamy 2, that clarity about what should be the plot is not there and there isn’t any evolvement in the storytelling process according to the changing cinematic language. When Aarusaamy finds a van full of black money he doesn’t bother telling the police. He just takes the Van and parks it in front of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and emails the president to check the Van. And Vikram thought it would make sense. Sigh!

Rating: 1.5/5