Looking at a relatively rare sequel, which is possibly better than its first part!
Vadh 2 movie review
Director: Jaspal Singh Sandhu
Actors: Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3 stars
First off, this film, in parts, could be a master-class in onscreen acting.
Those parts being quite linearly divided between its top four leads who, individually, get almost equal, exclusive screen time, to draw the audiences in, with their quietly understated performances, throughout the film’s two-hours-plus, tight duration.
Each is worthy of central roles at the movies, anyway.
Namely, actors Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Amitt K Singh. The latter is a young, confident detective investigating disappearance and possible murder, of a high-profile inmate at a prison, where Kumud plays a casteist, calm jailer.
The centre of attention is Neena Gupta’s character, who’s been behind bars for decades, having supposedly befriended a lowly jail employee, that is, Sanjay Mishra, along the way!
Between these top-notch performances, the set-up is stellar. What about the pay-off?
Have to admit, there are multiple passages, you might find yourself ignoring what’s going on, on the big screen, and switch to your second screen, instead.
Precious little happens by way of plot.
That said, a pic like this works/excels not so much for the story, per se, as for its storytelling, as it were. As this does. Vadh 2 is obviously a sequel. In the sense that merely the two main actors return.
Chiefly, Sanjay, as the quietly genial Shambhu Nath Mishra — looking equally lost, unkempt, as is, and being so himself, that you can hear audiences respond to his every move/line, even when he isn’t saying anything particularly funny, or of much import, anyway.
The way Mishra Ji (Ankhon Dekhi, Kaamyaab) is, in general, in life. He’s such an Old Monk, isn’t it? Which is also his choice of drink. Equally for the other rum-drinkers in this ensemble cast.
There’s a portion, where Sanjay’s character tells Neena about how his wife, that’s actually her, had passed away; his son had moved on, leaving his parents behind, with a huge debt they’d taken, in order to settle him abroad.
That’s the story of the OG Vadh (2022), also directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu (along with Rajeev Barnwal), which felt vastly over-the-top, on occasion, for a realistic, small-town suspense-thriller.
You needn’t watch that, in order to enjoy this. The writer-director, Sandhu, has taken a fresh stab at the characters, and the script, let alone the world-building.
It starts with the logo of Madhya Pradesh (MP) tourism, which makes it an odd film for a tourism board to endorse. It’s set entirely within a zila/district jail, supposedly in a small-town called Shivpuri, with all the crooks, criminals that no one should visit MP for.
I’m guessing the film’s been shot in Bhopal jail. Which was also the location for the Netflix series, Black Warrant (2025), similarly set within the premises of a prison.
The bone of connection is the brash, uncouth son of an MLA (Akshay Dogra), whose reign within is supreme. Nobody can rein this villain in. He’s the guy gone missing from jail, or possibly dead.
Here’s the obvious rub, though. This is a whodunnit, where you feel good-riddance towards the fellow for whatever’s been done to him.
Surely, murder is illegal. Hence, the detective investigating the case. The viewer is always two steps ahead of this cop. Audience privilege is complete.
The word vadh itself implies vanquishing evil, in the context of a good cause. The question is simply how/when/why.
You consume this genre in the mould of, say, Drishyam, which is effectively a writer/viewer’s obsession with an unsolvable crime, or perfect murder, as it were.
Speaking of Drishyam, that’s on to its threequel, of course, Malayalam movies inevitably do this slow-burn better. Among so many examples, take the more recent, Kishkindha Kaandam (2024). We’ve inhaled such movies regularly on OTTs, assuming that’s where such content belongs.
It’s actually mildly therapeutic to be in a quieter hall, muted background score, heightened performances, when the point of a scene is to lead to another, and for movie itself to hold your attention with a simple story.
That’s the virtue of Vadh 2. I walked in, having lowered my expectations. It remains a rare instance, when the sequel’s way better.
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