Starring Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma, Gadar 2 tells the story of Tara Singh who visits Pakistan during the 1971 Crush India campaign to save and bring his son back who has been captured by the Pakistani soldiers. The film is a sequel to the superhit 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. It is directed and produced by Anil Sharma, and written by Shaktimaan Talwar. Zee Studios has served as the distributor.
Plot
Tara Singh (played by Sunny Deol) had married Sakeena (Ameesha Patel) during the 1947 partition of India-Pakistan. After almost 24 years, their son Charanjeet “Jeete” Singh (Utkarsh Sharma) is captured and imprisoned by the Pakistani soldiers headed by Major General Hamid Iqbal. In prison, Jeete is tortured by the soldiers and is asked to spit out secrets of the Indian Army and government. All this is happening amid the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 and the Crush Indian campaign that took place in Pakistan.
Performances
Sunny Deol has made a career out of playing loud characters that can easily beat a crowd of 20 people. But under the masterful direction of someone like Rajkumar Santoshi, he was able to give moving performances in films like Ghayal, Ghatak, and Damini. Gadar 2 isn’t in that league of films. Sunny looks tired and angry at the same time while playing Tara. He does action scenes well but fails to generate the impact of the first Gadar. Ameesha Patel doesn’t have a lot of scenes but she tries her best to capture the moment. She is great in the emotional scenes.
Utkarsh Sharma (director Anil Sharma’s son) looks bland in his scenes as he struggles with his expressions. Manish Wadhwa, who plays the Pakistani general, plays the cliched bad Pakistani guy with ease. But the role is so lazily written that one can’t do anything about it. Other actors like Gaurav Chopra, Simrat Kaur, and Luv Sinha play their under-written parts with ease.
Analysis
The first Gadar had released around the same time as Lagaan. But managed to shake the box office and became a major financial success. A lot of time has passed since then and our tastes have evolved. But Gadar 2 seems like it’s stuck in the 1990s and early 200s formula of over-the-top and loud action dramas that used to bring a lot of money to its makers. The film doesn’t work on any level, be it performance, writing, or direction. The music might be the only silver lining too because they have re-hashed Udd Ja Kaale Kava. Anil Sharma’s direction as well as Shaktimaan’s (his long collaborator) writing both are really stale and outdated.
Gadar 2 is a part of the string of hyper-masculine and jingoistic films that cater to the current climate of India. These films typically touch the low-hanging fruits and find easy routes by demonizing an entire nation and its citizens. But done well, they can be fun to watch. Unfortunately, Gadar 2 can help you if you are looking for 2 hours and 50 minutes of sleep in the theatre.
Verdict
Despite its shortcomings, Gadar 2 might do well at the box office among the masses because of the massive Gadar brand value and the buzz around it. This film is for you if you are into high-octane actions flicks that are low on storylines.
Rating
Critic’s Rating: 2/5
Box Office Rating: 3.5/5
Stay tuned for Movie reviews, ott reviews, latest bollywood movie reviews, box office movie reviews.
