Singam 2

From the word go, Singam 2 clearly establishes that it's fulcrum is only action and the quantity of romance, sentiment and comedy that occupied equal proportion in Singam is less here. The film opens up with an item number of Anjali with a vigilant Suriya who also keeps her company in waltz but conveys to the audience that he is a man on a different mission.

Director Hari adheres to all his usual ingredients from music to method of action scenes to the cavalcade of four wheelers to the structuring of sequences. He is known to string the various elements of commercial cinema viz. romance, action, sentiment and music in an entertaining fashion and he does the same in Singam 2 too with a racier screenplay that gives a lot of scope for action.

Suriya shoulders the film big time. The sincerity and dedication of this artist is something that needs to be lauded. Suriya with his dialogue delivery, eye expressions, body language and live energy has redefined screen presence! What a show! The biggest challenge of doing an action packed 'mass' role is not to over do it, as its a very delicate thin line to cross. Suriya in Singam 2 pulls it off with consummate ease.

The actor brings in a majestic and a respectable color to the police attire and his dexterity over action sequences is remarkable. Dialogues like "appa amma solra pechai kekkaama vera yaar pechai keppanga" when mouthed by Suriya brings out the earnestness of the statement. The efforts the actor has put in to his dancing is also visible with the 'Singam dance'.

The rain fight in front of Suriya's house, revved up by DSP's RR, Suriya taking charge as Deputy Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi and Suriya making the first arrest of Danny are all power packed sequences.

Hansika is effective and her role is meaningful and integral to the plot. Anushka is charming and has screen space in the second half. Santhanam is an enjoyable addition to Singam 2 and his sequences livens up the proceedings be it in the Arabian Kudirai episode, the Viswaroopam Kamal sequence or the Kadhal Vandhale scene. He makes us ask for more of him in the film.

There is a long list of ensemble in Singam 2. Mukesh Hari and Rahman as the key antagonists supported by Naan Kadavul Rajendran deliver neatly. Danny Sapani, the London based artist as the international drug dealer is fearsome initially but tapers down towards the end. Sankarabaranam Vishwanath also makes a cameo.

Music director Devi Sri Prasad soothes the audience with a melodious 'Puriyavillai' number. Rest of the tracks sound like an extension of the earlier enterprise. Kannukkule number suffers from wrong placement. Cinematographer Priyan neatly captures the Tuticorin and the South African soils and the car chase sequence in Durban has been done well. V.T Vijayan and Jay, the editor duo have worked in tandem with Hari to keep the proceedings pacy.

The predictable nature of the plot and the climax could well be the downers of this otherwise well packed action entertainer.

To sum it all, with Hari's racy screenplay and Suriya's terrific screen personality, Singam 2 strikes big time. Mass masala guaranteed ! Verdict: Watch it for Suriya. Screen presence redefined !

As usual Hari's racy screenplay and Surya's energetic performance are the main highlights of this movie.Female leading character, Anushka has been ignored in this film. Hansika had made her part good. The songs seems to be worse. Santhanam and Vivek excelled in humor part. A little bit slow moving screenplay could've made this movie more interesting.Even though story is predictable doesn't makes viewers get bored. But overall these movies Singam 1 and Singam 2 are made marvelous by SURYA. Watch the film for SURYA. BGM and Songs : 3/10. Cinematography : 6/10. Story Screenplay Direction : 8/10. and finally SURYA's performance : 10/10. Finally a worth watch movie.

Duraisingam, the much-loved character of the 2010 blockbuster, Singam, starring Suriya, is back and he triumphantly returns with his family and friends for a second round of entertainment and applause.

The enthusiasm with which he is received is evident from loud screams, shrill whistles and thunderous clapping in packed theaters.

Director Hari Gopalakrishnan has dared to make a sequel of the hugely successful Singam, a proposition that is not only a rarity in Tamil cinema, but has also proved to be extremely risky in the past. Sequels do have a tendency to fail but Singam 2 obviously doesn't fall in that category.

The director has retained most of the original cast -- Suriya, Anushka Shetty, Vivek, Radha Ravi, Vijayakumar, Nassar and Nizhalgal Ravi -- and made some new additions -- the glamorous Hansika Motwani, comedy superstar Santhanam, and British actor Danny Sapani. Actress Anjali has been roped in for an item number. Prakash Raj, from the original cast, has been dropped.

Cinematographer Priyan wields the camera and the editing has been handled by VT Vijayan.

Singam 2 opens with a recap of its prequel, thus aptly setting the mood. Singam ends with Duraisingam (Suriya) accepting a new mission from the Home Minister (Vijayakumar). Though duly appointed as the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tuticorin, Duraisingam is working undercover as an NCC commander, who is in charge of uncovering a smuggling racket that has been dangerously spreading along the coast of Tamil Nadu.

Satya (Hansika Motwani) is a student in the same school and has a huge crush on Duraisingam. As the story unfolds, we learn why Duraisingam does not marry Kavya (Anushka Shetty) as expected. Not knowing that Duraisingam is an undercover, his father (Radha Ravi) stops talking to him and refuses to let him marry Kavya.

The chief of the smuggling ring is a huge dangerous looking African Danny (Danny Sapani) and he supplies illegal drugs to two local smugglers in Tuticorin, Bhai (Mukesh Rishi) and Thangarasu (Rahman), who incidentally happens to be Satya's uncle.

Meanwhile, Duraisingam continues with his underground surveillance operations to collect enough evidence against these drug lords. The rest of the story is about how the lion vanquishes its enemies.

Vivek, as sub-inspector Erimalai, has been sidelined in favor of Santhanam, who has his own comedy track. Santhanam shows us why he is such a crowd puller with his brilliant one-liners and incredible comic timing.

Hansika is the surprise element in Singam 2. Her avatar as a student is so deglamorised that you barely recognize her.

Anushka does not have much to do in the film.

In fact it is just Surya and only Surya all the way. Suriya's makeover with a stylish mustache was much appreciated in Singam and he continues to look handsome in Singam 2.

Predictably, the film has a lot of power-packed action sequences and the story races along with a tremendous pace keeping you engaged throughout. In spite of the number of characters in the film, the screenplay is extremely clear cut, with every role outlined beautifully.

The only negative would be the length -- the movie runs for almost three hours. A slightly shorter version would have created a greater impact.

Devi Sri Prasad (DSP) who had earlier composed the music for the original film returns here. Though not extraordinary, all the tracks are lively, peppy, and foot-tapping numbers. DSP manages to keep up with the tempo of the film with his racy background score.

The Hari-Suriya combination seemed to have worked its magic once again. The screen presence and charisma of Suriya coupled with brilliance of Hari's screenplay and direction makes Singam 2 a joyful experience.

Frist Half : The first half is interesting with comedy and action packed scenes. But this portion is quite lengthy. Other than than Hansika's portion, Santhanam's comedy were all entertaining.. No need to say about Suriya.. he is at his usual best.. Charming , powerful and natural..

Second Half: The twist at the interval sets your mood to enjoy the thriller. The movie goes at a fast pace when compared to the first half. Some action packed performances such as the rain fight and Suriya taking over as Deputy Superintendent of Police are all superb and power packed. Though climax is much predictable, the action packed performance of Suriya and others make it a worthy film to watch.

Performances: Suriya - As usual, Suriya excels in his role and he has delivered a brilliant performance.dialogue delivery, eye expressions, body language and live energy has redefined screen presence! What a show! The biggest challenge of doing an action packed 'mass' role is not to over do it and he pulls it off with ease. Singam 2 is all his show and he rocks in action, dance, comedy and romantic scenes. His dialogue delivery is natural. Acting is more matured in Singam 2 compared to its prequel. His dance performance in "Singam dance" is remarkable.

Anushka and Hansika: Anushka seems to have less scope for her role, though in second half she does her role perfectly.She has done justice to the given opportunity. Her chemistry with Surya is sure to rock you again. Hansika is effective and her role is meaningful and integral to the plot. She has also done justice to her role.

Santhanam and Vivek: Santhanam is an enjoyable and his sequences livens up the proceedings. The Viswaroopam Kamal sequence or the Kadhal Vandhale scene, He makes us ask for more of him in the film. Vivek hasn't got much scope compared to the prequel.

Villains:

Mukesh Hari and Rahman as the key antagonists , deliver it neatly. Danny Sapani, the London based artist as the international drug dealer is fearsome initially but tapers down towards the end. He could have been much better

Music: Kanukullae and Singam dance are the highlights of the movie. nice to watch in big screen..

VERDICT :

Singam 2 is a typical Hari style movie, which is routine, long and racy. The director has forced too much content, which demands more characters and time. But he has made it watchable and enjoyable action entertainer. Singam 2 is not as good as its prequel, but is definitely a good movie. This movie will come as a relief for Suriya after Maatraan. Thanks to Hari. Watch it for Suriya's Superb performance and some power packed action scenes

Rating- 3/5

Singam 2 (2013) Review:

This film is definitely a bigger sequel but if you analyze the concept of class vs mass in this film the later takes over. The mass part takes over at the cost logic and class. What do you expect from a 100% raw commercial movie? If your answer is a movie with some repeated nonstop heroic action packed stunts rather than some reasonable screen play, story and stuff. Get in for one and only Surya who is bagging the entire movie with his fierce looks and eyes popping out of anger to finish his enemies trio.

Coming to the casting of course Surya sweeps it all. About lead heroines of the movie, Anushka had nothing but few songs and scenes, Hansika had some role but she hardly fits to the role as a school student in Thuthukudi. The movie also had plenty of other known faces but none had much contributory screen space to show case their role properly.

Coming to the technical parts of the movie, direction and cinematography was so average. Music got so repeating tunes from the first flick. It was so annoying and irritating to look at the amateur level of graphics in the movie in many places.

The story started from what they left in the last movie. But I guess from the last scene of the first movie it was very implicit that Anushka and Surya got married and they were on the way to Thuthkudi where I remember Anushka was with her newly married style of makeup. But totally this was the other way around in this movie like they didn't get married and so on.

But if you are a die-hard fan of Surya and wanted only hero kicking and fighting the villains get in for this movie and enjoy.

Verdict: Singam 2 total Surya mass and nothing else.

-Reviewed by Sivakumar Balachandran

(bsiva84@gmail.com)