The redundancy of S Shankar’s sequel to Hindustani (the Hindi dub of his Tamil-language Indian from 1996) is established by the new film’s plot. Corruption that used to be in lakhs now runs into crores, frets a character in Hindustani 2. Given that the hero of the first film was the corruption-busting, Subhas Chandra Bose-worshipping Senapathy (Kamal Haasan), it isn’t clear what exactly he managed to achieve.
Senapathy’s solution to ending corruption was literal and crude: kill the corrupt. This extremist approach clearly hasn’t worked. Here is Senapathy 28 years later, still dispensing horrible deaths to grubby-handed businessmen via gravelly-voiced diatribes and the ancient martial arts technique Varma kalai.
Senapathy is summoned out of his foreign hideout by the anti-corruption activist Chitra (Siddharth). Despite being “most wanted” by Indian authorities, Senapathy is randomly spotted by one of Chitra’s associates while grocery shopping. Chitra and three friends (including Priya Bhavani Shankar’s Aarthi) run a YouTube channel through which they expose bribe-taking. Their mascot is an animated, violent version of RK Laxman’s Common Man.
Computer-generated graphics and visual effects – Shankar’s favourite tools as a filmmaker as well as his strengths – are deployed alongside prosthetic make-up in a film that consciously targets the below-40 crowd. This demographic is still innocent of and untainted by the deeds of their parents, Senapathy declares.
Senapathy’s pitch to millennials include displays of his physical prowess. Despite being close to a hundred, the ageless crusader effortlessly slips through the dragnets set by Central Bureau of Investigation officer Pramod (Bobby Simha). Leaping through the air? Navigating a unicycle through a metro train? No problem.
Apart from crowd-pleasing vigilantism – Shankar’s version of the anarchist credo Eat the Rich – Hindustani 2 has little new to offer. The sequel’s vintage is revealed in all its creaking glory through the deaths in 2021 of cast members Nedumudi Venu (who also starred in the previous film) and Vivek, who plays Pramod’s colleague.
Shankar’s smartest update on the original production is Senapathy’s realisation that not everyone is as strong-willed or committed as he is. An appeal by Senapathy to his admirers to turn in bribe-taking family members has unforeseen consequences. This aspect of Shankar’s screenplay, which acknowledges the high price of honesty, somewhat livens up the repetitive spectacle of gruesome deaths.
Among the most unfortunate victims of Senapathy’s use of Varma kalai is Darshan (Zakir Hussain), a Gujarati business magnate whose all-gold lair includes a golden toilet. SJ Suryah plays the outrageously dressed Sarguna Pandian who is spared only because Hindustani 3 is already under production and will be released in 2025.
In a film that valourises its judge, jury and executioner, a few actors stand out. Siddharth has strong scenes as Senapathy’s most ardent devotee. Bobby Simha, whose Pramod mainly drives around looking purposeful, is the very picture of rectitude, especially when compared to Senapathy’s endless grandstanding.
Kamal Haasan projects menace from behind layers of make-up and through his voice. Haasan has also done his own dub in the Hindi version, speaking Hindi alongside Punjabi and Gujarati.
The aim is to be “pan-Indian”. The result is a bloated, brutish film that rejects non-violent solutions to corruption (“elections do not represent change but an exchange). Senapathy’s tactics didn’t failed the first time round. The success rate is even lower in the sequel.
