Movie: Pandem Kodi 2
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Light House Makers
Cast: Vishal, Keerthy Suresh, Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar, Raj Kiranand others
Dialogues: Rajesh
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Camera: Shaktivel
Editing: K L Praveen
Producer: Vishal
Story, direction: N Linguswamy
Release date: October 18, 2018
'Pandem Kodi 2' is Vishal's 25th movie as actor. Since the film is sequel to 'Pandem Kodi', a blockbuster, the film has generated good buzz in Telugu states.
Let’s find out how the film is...
Story:
Bhavani (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar), a widow, vows to kill Gopi of the rival village as she lost her husband in faction killings. But Raja Reddy (Raj Kiran) protects him and also tries to restore peace. He holds village festival to appease rain gods.
Around the same time his son Balu (Vishal) comes to his village. Now Balu takes up the mantle from his father.
Will Bhavani remain silent? Will Balu succeed in his mission?
Artistes’ Performances:
Vishal as Pulivendula Puli has acted in his usual style. His screen presence elevates some sequences. Raj Kiran as his father provides dignity.
Varalakshmi as lady villain brings some novelty but her characterization isn't a perfect arc. Keerthy Suresh as mischievous village belle is the real scene stealer.
Technical Excellence:
The film has lavish production values. However, the dialogues and music don’t add any value. The action choreography is impressive. Editing is okay.
Highlights:
Vishal
Keerthy’s bubbly act
Some action scenes
Drawback:
Routine narration
Too much of mass moments
Tamil flavor
Weak songs
Analysis:
It was “Pandem Kodi” that made Vishal popular in Telugu states. The film that was released nearly 12 years ago gets a sequel now.
The milieu and the setup of this sequel is same as in the original except that the one who vows to take vengeance is a woman (played by Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar).
The other new thing is “7-days tirunallu/ jathara”. Crux of the story happens during this period of jathara.
Like in the original, the film is set in Pulivendula and the story begins with Raj Kiran and back story of faction killings and rival groups.
Raj Kiran’s son Vishal taking charge to hold the jathara peacefully is the focus point here. The moment Vishal enters into the scene, the movie turns into typical masala movie with faction fights and romance with chirpy village girl.
As in the first film, the romantic track is entertaining. Keerthy Suresh as bubbly girl steals the show here. The film offers some good masala action moments. Vishal doing a lengthy fight stunt in the midst of the festival is the best moment.
But the problem is that the movie is too massy that it is hard to bear after a time, it dwells more on “oora” mass elements than the story. The narration neither is compelling.
Varalaxmi as Bhavani acts like a typical male villain. Also the faction fights and action stunts do not add coherence to the story. Director Linguswamy clearly is not in his form here.
Overall, “Pandem Kodi” is a typical mass movie with some good scenes here and there, but it turns out to be logic-less masala movie that is told in typical Tamil style and it lacks punch of the original movie.
Bottom-line: Jathara