Son of Sardar 2 movie review
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Mrunal Thakur, Ravi Kishan
Director: Vijay Kumar Arora
Rating: ★★★
Leave aside the review for just a moment, I want to praise whoever is working on Ajay Devgn‘s makeup (and definitely some digital touch up on the face) Because the man looks like he’s in his 30s in Son of Sardaar 2– at 56!
You might expect this film to be a leave-your-brains-at-home comedy, or worse, a pointless sequel: I was thinking… it’s both, as I settled into my seat. However, I was pleasantly surprised on my way out, with what I saw. SOS 2 fully embraces its nonsense, and it somehow works.
Son of Sardar 2: What is the plot?
Ajay is back as the simpleton Jassi, whose wife (played by Neeru Bajwa) calls him to London, only to ask for a divorce. Working there for many years, she’s moved on, even as he waited for her in Punjab. With nowhere to go, he runs into Rabia (Mrunal Thakur), part of an all-girl wedding dhol band. Her sister Saba (Roshni Walia) wants to marry Raja’s (Ravi Kishen) son. Raja is obsessed with ‘breed’- it should be top notch, and it applies to both animals and humans. He demands to meet Saba’s parents- who aren’t around anymore. So Jassi becomes the father, pretending to be a Colonel, Rabia becomes the mother. And the stage is set for drama.
Clear motivations, good results
SOS 2 has a firm grip on its genre from the word go, and that works in its favour. Unlike the conventional sequels which rely on callbacks and jokes from the original, the writing here doesn’t. There’s no connection to the first SOS. The screenplay is simple, and on track for the most part. The first half begins slow, but as more characters start trickling in, the humour quotient rises. The writing by Jagdeep Singh Sidhu and Mohit Jain is light, and keep things ticking. It drags at some places, yes, but the first half emerges as a winner if making you laugh was a contest.
The second half begins on a very choppy note, and some lame sequences such as one involving a narcotic drug, unnecessarily drag the film. The climax gets it back on track just in time.
Performance report card
None of it would have been possible if not for the cast. Ajay still manages that goofy grin 13 years since SOS and ably leads the film. But it’s Ravi Kishen who is a hoot as the gangster-like figure. There are plenty of one-liners in SOS 2, delivered with such timing by seasoned performers like Deepak Dobriyal (playing a man who has decided to become a woman) which actually put the fun in this film.
The writing isn’t dumb. Imagine tackling something like the India-Pakistan tensions on celluloid, in a year like 2025- and getting away with it! Again, it’s the actors who lift the material on paper.
Mrunal fits right into the madness, and has got good comic timing. Roshni delivers her part well, and Vindu Dara Singh, coupled with the late Mukul Dev, elicits laughs as the goofy sidekick. Kubbra Sait doesn’t have too much to do here.
Overall, Son of Sardaar 2 is not smart cinema, it’s not even necessary cinema, but it knows exactly what it’s doing. It throws logic out, drags a dhol band in, and somehow marches to the beat of its own madness. And you won’t hate the noise.
