5 minutes into the movie and you realise that the movie has not started, rather a short documentary of Kamal Hassan and his newly formed political journey is playing. It does really beg a question, did Kamal Hassan really make the sequel just to squeeze off his last remaining juice of star power (especially after Big Boss) to push his political agenda to the masses?
At the 6th minute, that ridiculous thought is shattered. The movie opens with a simple text synopsis of the prequel that tells you what happened and sets the context to what you're about to watch.
Any other director would have made a montage of the first film or made its characters to convey the summary through a voice over. Here, Kamal Hassan doesn't give a damn - he's basically saying "If you want to understand the sequel better, go watch the goddamn prequel."
The story of Vishwaroopam 2 largely sticks to the core on which it's predecessor largely established. We have the part espionage - part terrorist Wizam Ahmed Kashmiri now being revealed as an Indian Soldier who was on a covert operation in Afghanistan finally returning back to his real identity, much to the amusement of his wife Nirupama and his sidekick Ashmita.
The antagonists, Omar and Salim (who is still hell bent on bombing the world) has now shifted their attention to India. This change in location was also hinted in the first part.
Like all of his movies, Kamal Hassan proves he's a master writer. Let it be the introductory scene of the movie where the scene translations from the title card to the bells on his leg (He was a Kathak dancer in the first movie) to the super slow mo shots which became synonym with the Vishwaroopam franchise all add depth and gloss to this one of a kind spy thriller.
The genius in writing though unfortunately is limited - considering Vishwaroopam 2 merely tries to tie back the loose ends which the first movie indicated. What happened to Omar's family, why did Wizam end up in Afghanistan, who is Imtiaz, what was Nirupama's role in the story - all of these is masterfully answered by the script.
But V2 stops right there. Like it's predecessor, the story doesn't have a major conflict which it moves towards. Yes, the talk about big ships carrying bombs (the UK portion feels completely written just to fill in the footage) to the 64 bombs planted in Mumbai - all these screams drama but is not translated to the screen. It merely feels all talk as the villains are seen merely present to be defeated.
All said and done, Vishwaroopam 2 does what it needs to do as a sequel - it allows you to answer questions raised by the prequel and allows a completely higher level of appreciation to the first movie. Kamal Hassan continues to be at the top of his game when it comes to staging a scene. Take the scene where he meets his mother - who has Alzheimer's. His performance alone elevates the scene a notch higher.
Which begs the question on how much are we going to miss this master craftsman when he finally hangs his mask after Indian 2.
Do go watch Vishwaroopam 2, and savour all you can get of the legend that is Kamal Hassan.
Nice Write Up. Good job team !