Sandakozhi 2, the protagonist, Balu, and his father, Durai Ayya (Rajkiran) are often compared to a couple of lions, and the two characters do actually behave so. This is why when Pechi (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar) and the men in her family try to hunt down Anbu, the last male in a clan that they have sworn revenge against, they are unable to do anything.
Lingusamy raises the stakes for Balu by having Ayya get injured grievously. But Ayya wants ஹையா son to ensure that Anbu is saved at all cost, and that the week-long thiruvizha that the seven villages of the place are conducting after a gap of seven years, remains peaceful.
The broader set-up of Sandakozhi 2 – of a young man whose life is threatened during a festival – has shades of Vamsam (where it was the protagonist who had to save himself), and also calls back to the first Sandakozhi (where the villain wants to murder a young man at all cost). And director Lingusamy, for the most part, gives us a film that is as much a masala movie as the first film. We get a couple of good masala movie moments – one involves Balu tackling Pechi’s men and spoiling their attempt on Anbu’s life in the midst of the festival, while another involves a stunt scene involving Balu and Ayya that cross cuts between the action that is taking place in two different places.
Another major exciting factor is that this movie is going to mark Vishal’s 25th film in his cinematic career. Apart from Vishal in the main role, the film also has Keerthy Suresh, Varalaxmi and Rajkiran as well in important roles.
Brinda Sarathy and S Ramakrishnan are the writers of the film while Vishal and Linguswamy take credits for the story. Music sensation Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed the music score for the film.
The film was launched on August 10,2017 officially with a ceremony. A set was erected at Binny Mills to reproduce a place in Madurai with a Temple and 500 shops as well. Sakthivel is handling the cinematography for the film and editor Praveen KL is making the cuts.
But the problem with the film is that it lacks punch of the first film. The narrative is somewhat uneven as Lingusamy, for whom, the film is definitely a step up from Anjaan, doesn’t sustain the tension throughout, and going for unnecessary songs (especially in the second half) and scenes that are less impactful on screen than they must have been on paper. Pechi is a one-note character, and despite the presence that Varalaxmi lends to the role, she doesn’t appear as a serious threat. And the character of Anbu, is underwritten. Hari, who plays this role, is asked to act like a deer caught in the headlights in almost every scene. But the failures doesn’t derail the movie, which remains tolerable even in its less compelling portions.
