Ab Tak Chhappan 2

Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) is a movie that stands all by itself; it doesn't need a sequel nor can a proper sequel be made out of what was left at the end of the film. So even if this is a daunting effort, the tediousness will bore you.

Now, the plot of this much-anticipated sequel is hauntingly similar to its prequel. All-star encounter specialist Sadhu Agashe (Patekar) comes out of retirement and rebuilds his reputation as a maverick. The sidekicks are new, though the attention-seeker that was played by Yashpal Sharma then is now played by Ashutosh Rana in a seemingly absurd role. The same phone conversations with an overseas gangster, collateral damage, raw language, camera work, and Patekar's distinct talking style are all reminiscent of the brilliant movie we adored a decade ago, but twenty minutes later, the narration fails to arrest our senses. Slowly though, the tension picks up, but soon fades away. We end up feeling displeased.

Had most of the previous cast brought back, this could have been made into a much better thriller, but given that Agashe is fighting the bureaucracy this time, all is built on stinking stones of predictability. The scattered sequences and bad editing further adds to the damage done to the original film. Moreover, the climax goes slightly overboard, dealing and being priggish about the current state of politics.

Patekar is brilliant as always, and he does a splendid work. Rana is wasted and I wonder what Gul Panag as a crime reporter was doing in the film. She barely had a role to play and is only found shouting.

BOTTOM LINE: If you loved the 2004 film, you may give it a try, for it is an average thriller. Otherwise, skipping wouldn't be harmful.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Profanity/Vulgarity: Medium

The fact that Ab Tak Chappan warranted a sequel is undisputed . The sequel , on its part , is quite decent although it never really matches the ingenuity and quality of direction which Shimit Amin delivered in 2004.

Unlike the first part , the present movie is ordinarily edited and suffers from a flaw that proves fatal for most movies- non-judicious characterisation. The characters have not been given much depth this time and some of them have even been shabbily treated . There are quite a few superfluous characters and sequences involving them.

The movie opens rather well and appears to replicate the slick "cut to the chase" approach interspersed with abstract reliefs of introspection , but somehow the story loses its touch midway .

The action sequences are well shot and do justice to the genre. What however, hurts this movie a lot is the conspicuous descent of the story . The story becomes far too weak and run of the mill than one would have expected.

Nana Patekar does a great job but the other cast members are colored in melodrama , which further demotes the movie .

As a stand alone film I could have given it 7 but am forced to rate it 6 , that too because of Nana Patekar's performance , which to be sure binds the film together.

Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) is a movie that stands all by itself; it doesn't need a sequel nor can a proper sequel be made out of what was left at the end of the film. So even if this is a daunting effort, the tediousness will bore you.

Now, the plot of this much-anticipated sequel is hauntingly similar to its prequel. All-star encounter specialist Sadhu Agashe (Patekar) comes out of retirement and rebuilds his reputation as a maverick. The sidekicks are new, though the attention-seeker that was played by Yashpal Sharma then is now played by Ashutosh Rana in a seemingly absurd role. The same phone conversations with an overseas gangster, collateral damage, raw language, camera work, and Patekar's distinct talking style are all reminiscent of the brilliant movie we adored a decade ago, but twenty minutes later, the narration fails to arrest our senses. Slowly though, the tension picks up, but soon fades away. We end up feeling displeased.

Had most of the previous cast brought back, this could have been made into a much better thriller, but given that Agashe is fighting the bureaucracy this time, all is built on stinking stones of predictability. The scattered sequences and bad editing further adds to the damage done to the original film. Moreover, the climax goes slightly overboard, dealing and being priggish about the current state of politics.

Patekar is brilliant as always, and he does a splendid work. Rana is wasted and I wonder what Gul Panag as a crime reporter was doing in the film. She barely had a role to play and is only found shouting.

BOTTOM LINE: If you loved the 2004 film, you may give it a try, for it is an average thriller. Otherwise, skipping wouldn't be harmful.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Profanity/Vulgarity: Medium

Following the current questionable trend of making weak sequels of some well made films, here is another of those attempts made by a different team trying to en-cash the cult status of its original released a decade back in 2004.

To mention its few merits, Nana Patekar once again proves to be the major pull in the film playing Sadhu Agashe, the encounter specialist and it all begins on a promising note exactly from where they left it open-ended in the original. The initial 20 minutes set the mood in with few notable punchy dialogues and an energetic background score coming at the right moments. But as soon as Nana joins the force again and begins his encounter missions as per his own questionable style, the film goes back to all routine standards with nothing new to offer to the viewers in terms of storyline, execution or performances.

The camera-work awfully tries to imitate RGV in an amateurish manner throughout the film and Nana Patekar starts sleepwalking in his act unexpectedly post the enjoyable initial moments. All the cuss words in its dialogues get muted as per the new guidelines of the Censor board, brutally hurting their final impact quite annoyingly and the climax doesn't turn out to be anything exciting or innovative at all as compared to its impressive original (though written with all good intentions against the corrupt politicians).

In short, debutant director Aejaz Gulab fails to materialize on the ground already there and delivers a below average film with only a few worth mentioning features namely the well written lines, background score and action sequences. However I strong feel that its theme music should have been used repeatedly in the backdrop instead of playing the unnecessary variations diluting the overall effect.

Moreover with just OK performances coming from seasoned actors such as Vikram Gokhale, Ashutosh Rana, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Raj Zutshi and Gul Panag, AB TAK CHHAPPAN 2 (a song-less thriller) can surely be rated as a great opportunity missed by the team to move one step ahead than its part one despite having the same Sadhu Agashe in the cast.

Someone please teach this guy how to direct. having camera in every angle looks good only for death cam after getting shot in a multiplayer game, NOT in movies. I started watching this and left it in middle at least 5 times. It is that unbearable. Waste of talented actor like Nana sir. I was expecting a lot like the first one.