Ok, let's make a checklist; Haunted place..check, Huge cast..check, misleading character artists..check, Kovai Sarala..check, Ghostbusters..check, Emotional revenge & flashback..check, comedy..check, the list could just keep going on for a horror comedy movie and Aranmanai 2 easily ticks all the boxes. Sundar C on a mission to recreate the magic, takes up most of the cast from the first part and weaves out almost a similar story to thrill the audience, although there are some minor alterations like Soori in for Santhanam, Siddharth for Vinay etc. Aranmanai 2 comes with a straight forward "done and dusted" storyline, but as always with Sundar C, it's always the screenplay and the dialogues that take the front seat, let’s find out.
Sundar C has this tendency to bring in a whale of a cast, make use of them in every possible way in the wafer thin storyline and Aranmanai 2 is no different. A remote village with a huge family starts encountering sinister happenings all of a sudden, the family struggles to cope up and enter the savior, who tries to get to the bottom of the chaos, finds out a chilling flashback and finally with the help of the powerful priests drives away super natural elements. No, this is not Chandramukhi or Aranmanai’s story, but Aranmanai2’s plot and Sundar C adapts the same technique, so similar to the first that it takes a moment to realize it is the sequel that you are watching. But as again, people who walk into Sundar C movies watch it for the comedy that he derives from a situation, puts it across with a super duper lengthy screenplay frame to tickle that funny bone. There is this scene in Aranmanai 2 when the family goes out to a Hotel and in the quest to runaway from the ghost, they look out to Trisha to help them but little do they know that Trisha infact is the ghost. Scenes like these make Sundar C one of the best commercial directors around K-wood.
Through first half the director takes us through the usual gimmicks of mysterious deaths and weird activity around the majestic palace. The first half kind of drags through with a predictable screenplay ,with Soori entering the house goofing everyone quite similar to how Santhanam entered in the first part too. No matter how many times she does the same comic roles in Horror movies, it's a privilege to see Kovai Sarala at her best, just when you get the feeling in the first half that "where is the funny Sarala we know", she bounces back in the second half making us laugh our wits out. Soori too fills the comic space well along with Saravanan by picking up timely one liners.
Aranamanai2 is’nt a genius of a story, it dwells mainly on some slapstick humor, the performances of Hansika, Trisha, Kovai Sarala and Soori, and some real good camera & Art work behind the scenes. The giant 103 foo statue of the Goddess and the means of capturing it to detail deserve special mention to the technical team, for a moment you fold your hands in prayer! Aranmanai was lauded for its comic content, criticized for its horror moments, the second part has even lesser scary moments and there is hardly a frightening scene through the movie. Hansika comes in the flashback as the victim, who takes revenge by getting into the skin of Trisha. After a predictable first half, the second half races ahead with the screenplay, thanks to the situational comedy and some action packed thrills.
Hansika yet again is adorable as a bubbly spoilt sister, then menacing as the ghost. Her role is quite brief, but does the trick pretty well. The talented Siddharth’s role is etched with shades of what Vinay had in the first part, more scope could have been provided to prove his abilities apart from tagging along with the storyline. Trisha does her part well, but the predictable screenplay gives her character way pretty easily missing the element of surprise. Sundar C is in his comfortable role, a brother who wants to get to the bottom of the chaos with a small twist in the climax. BGM from Hip Hop Tamizha is spot-on and makes the mark, however the songs don’t do much justice and rather slows down the pace of the movie. Adding Sepia touches to the camera is simply Senthil’s master stroke, one of the best features of Aranmanai2.
Verdict : Go for Sundar C's usual humor, not for the thrills and horror
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