Force 2 (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – A sequel to Force (2011), ACP Yashvardhan teams up RAW Agent KK to bring down the master mind terrorist, Shiv.

My Take – What’s with the sudden rise in unwanted Bollywood sequels? Last week we had Rock On 2, this week we have two more (the other being Tum Bin 2), and in a few weeks we have Kahaani 2 and next year we the Ek Tha Tiger sequel Tiger Zinda Hai and third entry for Sarkaar followed by sequels of Dabangg, Krissh, Don, Student of the Year (why?), ABCD, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Judwaa, Jolly LLB, Dhoom, Aashiqui, Kick, Golmaal and many more. Made for clear cash grab purposes, it remains to be seen what innovative ideas they have in store to tarnish the memories of their predecessor! After Rock On 2, here’s another sequel whose original director (Nishikanth Kamat) was not deployed while carrying the franchise forward. Thankfully like Shujaat Saudagar, Abhinay Deo does not fall flat on his face. This is a rare Bollywood sequel to have its story carry forward from the first one on a bigger and better canvas with a better purpose. A remake of the 2003 Tamil blockbuster Kaakha Kaakha directed by Gautham Menon, starring Suriya Sivakumar and Jyothika, the film released in 2011, turned out to be actor John Abraham’s first solo hit as it catered to the action lovers. The film did not have Kaakha Kaakha’s emotional heft, but it did have gripping, not-before-seen action plus a villain worth living and dying for. Its Achilles heel was the casting of the heroine (Genelia D’souza). Five years since the 2011 film, the franchise repeats the mix, giving us gripping action once again, a solid villain and a contentious heroine. Abhinay Deo, who gave us Game and Delhi Belly, in the form of feature films have been busy for the past couple of years developing & directing the under rated and awesome adaption of the US series 24 starring Anil Kapoor, has proved his capabilities in the action genre. But, to build up a story which can withstand with action sequences is the most important. Only if the producers had thought of developing a better script along with its slick upgrade to the action, this film would have ended up ranking at the top of its genre.

The story follows reckless Mumbai cop ACP Yashvardhan Singh (John Abraham) five years after the events of the first film. In the years since he lost his wife Maya (Genelia D’souza) and his team, Yash has remained as strong-willed, impertinent and determined to vanquish evil as he was back then. Living alone and adhering to his daily injuries, Yash is glad at 1^st to receive a book from his old friend Harish (Freddy Daruwala), a RAW agent. Shocked to find out about Harish’s death along with a bunch of other agents in China, Yash decodes the coded message left by Harish in the book, and convinces RAW that they have a leak. Teamed up with a RAW representative K.K. (Sonakshi Sinha), the two reach Budapest where they quickly identify an employee of the Indian Embassy named Shiva Sharma (Tahir Raj Bhasin) to be the culprit. However, Shiv is not a routine citizen who leaked information for the greed of money; his outer motive is much higher. Constantly outsmarting the authorities with his smart and sneaky methods along with the help of his never ending pool of resources, Yash & K.K must figure out his end game & find a way to stop Shiv before any more agents die at the hand of the Chinese Intelligence Agency. Directed by Abhinay Deo, has made sure this is a complete out-an-out action film which is a treat for action film lovers. The movie does start with a bang with the introduction of each primary character and takes it forward. Initial few reels does have nail-biting moments like car lifting scene, the chase scene between John Abraham and Tahir Raj Bhasin in Budapest and the twist before the interval. However, the second half loses the steam especially when the true motives are revealed and few of the action scenes at times end up looking repetitive. Although the film’s USP is its action, it is not an all-brawn-no-brain venture. The film does raise a significant emotive point about intelligence gathering. When people sign up to spy on behalf of a country, they are aware that if found out, the very country they seek to serve will disown them. An espionage agent may accept that professional hazard as part of the game, but is there a way of serving the greater national good without writing people off? The film brings up this question gently in the narrative without any chest-thumping, and then lets itself down with the needless mush in the text flashing on screen. The idea of an unstoppable force meeting an eminently movable object would have worked better if a few simple rules had been followed. The 127-minute movie is supposed to pay homage to RAW’s efforts, but since the intelligence agency is always a few steps behind Yash¸ who in turn is a few steps behind Shiv, the tribute is misplaced. The film’s instance that the country should recognize the efforts of slain RAW officers also misunderstands the organization’s mandate of stealth and secrecy. Yet, the film stumbles through because director Abhinay Deo does not repeat the mistakes committed by the Indian versions of the Bond-Bourne and Mission: Impossible movies, including Ek Tha Tiger and Agent Vinod, except for an item number that is woven into the story, Yash and Karanjeet do not halt their hunt to pose amidst the Budapest countryside. Nor is there any chest-thumping moment aimed at making audiences feel guilty over consuming popcorn and cola while unnamed Indian spies die miserable deaths in non-vegetarian countries. Deo keeps his hand on the trigger throughout, leaping swiftly from one fight-and-chase sequence to the next and stopping the action only to give Yash yet another opportunity to prove that he can think as fast as he can move. In this world, far-off Budapest is the hotbed of an espionage war between India and China, Hindi dance numbers are all the rage in Hungarian dance clubs, and Indian spies are so averse to asking for help that they would rather see their mission fail than ask for backup. The free-running hops across terraces, motorcycle bound-assassins, and assassination threat involving an Indian politician will be familiar to Hollywood followers, while the contrivances and sentimental touches are comfortingly Indian.

What works for the film is that the pace doesn’t falter – Yash and KK are always chasing the bad guy and hunting for the next clue, which makes it easier to ignore the gaping holes in the plot and focus on John Abraham’s action moves. Deo borrows heavily from the Hollywood franchises and doesn’t go overboard with jingoism, which is a big point in his favor. The climactic sequence with visuals captured by hand-held cameras and layered with loud background score gummed together in snappy edits, inspired from this year’s awesome Hardcore Henry, is an eye sore. The good part is that screenplay will keep you engaged though it has share of flaws. Few scenes will arise while watching this film- Why on earth a criminal is being escorted to India from a foreign land only by two officers? How come so many people start popping out every time Shiv is being taken away by India police? The lone song, a remix of ‘Kate Nahin Kat Te’ from Mr. India (1987) snuggly fits into the narrative. Despite, these shortcomings, I felt the thrills and punches are good enough to keep you at bay. The purposefulness of this film’s writing is both its strength and its weakness. Writers Parveez Shaikh and Jasmeet K. Reen are here to entertain us with suspense and unrelenting skirmishes – involving wit, guns and fisticuffs – and they do that well. If only they had paid more attention to the characterization of Yash and KK, the film would have been more than just that. Yash relies almost entirely on our per-existing investment in him from the previous film, on Abraham’s dimpled charm and the actor’s unapologetic willingness to be objectified without denting his dignity in the way Hindi cinema tends to do with women. However, we do not see enough of the character’s journey here, nothing much to add to the Yash we already know from the earlier film. The best written character here is of Shiv Sharma, a criminal who is both cold-blooded and nuanced, a man we can fear yet empathize with without the film getting too maudlin in its portrayal of him. Shiv is as intriguing as Vidyut Jamwal’s Vishnu was in the earlier film yet completely different. Another saving grace of the film was Yash-KK equation is that despite the hint of a romance between them, the film does not go too far in that direction. As a director, Abhinay Deo must share a large part of the credit for making this film quite fun with action director Franz Spilhaus, cinematographers Mohana Krishna and Imre Juhasz who make us participants in the proceedings, Amitabh Shukla & Sanjay Sharma’s sharp editing and the doggedness of John Abraham’s bath towel that does not get dislodged from his waist until the very end of an extended, physically challenging fight. John Abraham is required to flex his muscles to the point where it looks like his veins might burst and mouth minimal dialogue, a task he seems to have perfected over the years. He is perfectly suitable for action hunk roles. He shines sporadically with his muscle power and he offers his punches more convincingly than his dialogues. Sonakshi Sinha is in full form and yes, her action is worth hooting for, but her character is never given enough depth. She plays Yash’s senior officer but abiding by the template of action films in Bollywood, she must abide by what her hero has to say and do. There is a feeling that she has a back-story to scream from rooftops about but thanks to some sharp editing, we are spared the melodramatic details. She comes out looking sincere but leaves only a little impact as her character seems lost almost all through the length of the film. Tahir Raj Bhasin is the surprise package, of the film. Understated, and ordinary in his approach, he propels the narrative convincingly. After giving a solid performance in Mardaani, he delivers yet another excellent performance. He seems to have mastered the art of the smirk as shorthand for evil, and he has plenty of opportunities to do so here. Even though he is the life of the film here, he should watch out for the roles he select next as he might get typecast in the similar roles. Boman Irani, Adil Husain, Narendra Jha, Freddy Daruwala (Holiday) and Raj Babbar (reprising his role from the earlier film), in minuscule roles are effective. Genelia D’souza is likable in a cameo. On the whole, ‘Force 2’ is an entertaining action thriller, which despite a few shortcomings, manages to keep you engrossed.