Jailer 2 movie story:
Three months since the demise of his son, Arjun (Vasanth Ravi), former jailer Tiger Muthuvel Pandian (Rajinikanth), his wife (Ramya Krishnan), Arjun’s widow Shwetha (Mirna Menon) and her son Rithwik, live a quiet life, presumably hidden away from any trouble that maybe brewing for them following Varman’s (Vinayakan) death. Unbeknownst to his family, though, Muthu has been planning and plotting to eliminate everyone in the upper echelons of the crime syndicate Varman was a part of. This puts him on the war path with Goa-based Chakri Kalpak (Mithun Chakraborthy) and his family, including sons Bodhi (SJ Suryah), Sharva (Hakkim Shanavas, Ved (Jatin Sarna) and daughter Kantha (Vidya Balan).
Jailer 2 movie review:
It’s never easy to make a sequel that is just as satisfying as the original, if not better. Nelson Dilipkumar had a tough job at hand – he’d made a very entertaining Superstar Rajinikanth film and peppered it with star cameos that audiences lapped up and how. With the sequel, he needed to up the ante, while also staying true to the Jailer franchise. The filmmaker not only managed this fairly well, but has also ensured that audiences walked out with high expectations for Jailer 3.
Jailer 2 has a fantabulously entertaining first half; the comedy’s spot on, as are the subtle elevations and narrative plot points. So much so that at the interval block, the only fervent prayer was that the film should not succumb to the curse of the second half. It didn’t, but the latter half wasn’t as impactful as the first, even though Nelson salvages the landing with a lead in for a third part.
The trouble this time around is the lack of a formidable opponent for Muthuvel. Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Dileep was set up as the next Varman, but Nelson cuts his wings early on. Suraj needed that bandwidth to go all out, but is not accorded any, because the big baddies that he reports to were yet to be introduced. Obviously, their inclusion in the cast, especially Vidya Balan, had to be justified, so, a lot of narrative space is dedicated to the Kalpak family, but this is also where the film dips.
The SJ Suryah school of acting is an acquired taste, me thinks; one that I haven’t taken to yet. He’s far from menacing and quite comical as Bodhi – not what one expects from a film’s main antagonist. Vidya Balan fares better, despite limited screen presence. What fails to excite this time around are the cameos of Muthuvel’s trusted trio Matthew (Mohanlal), Narasimha (Shivarajkumar) and Kamdev (Jackie Shroff).
Also read: Jailer 2: Can Nelson's Rajinikanth-led sequel double the Jailer Day 1 box office opening?
Meghna Raj Sarja’s cameo is quite forgettable, while Hrithik Roshan’s much anticipated one turns out to be quite the damp squib. For what it is worth, he makes a very stylish entry, but does pretty much nothing apart from strutting around pretty. Hopefully, justice for Hrithik’s Roddy will be done in Jailer 3.
This time around, Anirudh Ravichander drops not one, but two special numbers, but both, one featuring Shamna Kasim and the other, Norah Fatehi, remain quite forgettable. There’s just no beating Tamannaah Bhatia’s Kaavala. No complaints about the BGM, even though much of it is Anirudh’s slightly upcycled versions of the score from the original film.
Ultimately, it is Superstar Rajinikanth who does all the heavy lifting and Nelson goes about it real smart, without having his leading man do much besides present his trademark swag onscreen. They even did a much better job with the de-aging, this time around. All in all, a very satisfying sequel that may not warrant repeat viewing, but it is fun while it lasts.
Jailer 2 verdict:
Nelson Dilipkumar presents a worthy follow up to his 2023 film. But for a few issues in the second half, the almost three-hour run-time remains engaging for the most part. As far as sequels go, this is a job well done.
