Kazhugu 2 - A few thrills mixed with humor and love
'Kazhugu' directed by Sathya Siva released in 2012 attained critical acclaim and remains one of the career-best movies for leads Krishna and Bindu Madhavi. This being the season of sequels the second part has come out with the same core team and does it receive the same response from the audience remains to be seen.
Krishna and Kaali Venkat are petty thieves in Theni who are hired as protectors for the forest labourers in Kodaikanal against wild dogs. Though the duo do not even know how to hold a gun they manage to survive on their job and Krishna falls in love with Bindu Madhavi the daughter of one of the workers M. S. Bhaskar. The old man refuses to the match and Krishna plans to execute a daring robbery at the residence of the local MLA and escape with his lover from the dangerous forest work. Does he succeed in his mission is what the rest of the screenplay is all about.
Krishna has put in a lot of effort to nail his character in 'Kazhugu 2' and is impressive in the earlier comedy scenes with Kaali Venkat as well as the romance and action as well. Bindhu Madhavi comes back to the Tamil screens after a gap and has given her best to the character who is blindly in love with her man. Her dialogue delivery to Krishna after he commits the robbery evokes applause from the audience. Kaali Venkat proves his skills as a comedian and as a character actor in his pivotal role as the hero's friend. M.S. Bhaskar and Harish Peradi as the villain have done their bit well while 'Bigg Boss' fame Yaashika Aanand puts in an appearance in an item dance number.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs especially "Adi Endi Pulla" in his own voice is alluring while his background score elevates the film from the mediocrity it suffers from especially the sequence involving the wild dogs in the beginning and the climax. The rest of the technical aspects are on par.
What works in 'Kazhugu 2' are the romance scenes between Bindu and Krishna, the comedy portions involving Kaali Venkat and the sequence where Krishna plans and executes the robbery in the MLA's house.
Director Sathya Shiva has touched a few interesting elements such as the wild dogs menace, the ancient buried treasure, the helicopter accident and the love story of Bindu and Krishna. Where he has faltered is in stitching together these in an interesting manner in the screenplay which is haphazard to start with. There are also a few logical loopholes that are glaring namely Bindu Madhavi's character shown making tea for the workers many miles away from their workplace, very sparse policemen dealing the helicopter accident of a minister and the ancient urn is also not that convincingly told. Similarly even a preteenager would guess the interval block twist and even though there are a few unexpected twists in the climax which turns tragic it fails to engage the audience. On the whole this is one more case of a film having an interesting premise but failing to capitalize on that.
Verdict : Go for this one for the acting of Krishna and Bindu Madhavi, the humor and a few thrills.
