SandaKozhi 2: Rural Revenge Thiruvizha

The reunion of Vishal and N. Linguswamy after thirteen years for a sequel to their iconic 'Sandakozhi' is reason enough for fans to make a dash for it getting the added bonus of Yuvan Shankar Raja's music as the icing on the cake.  Does the sequel match up to the original or not remains to be seen.

Ayya (RajKiran) provides protection for a lower caste man Anbu (Johnny Hari) who is the target of a dreaded upper-class woman Pechi (Varu Sarathkumar) out to avenge the death of her husband.  A grand festival is organized after seven years where all the villages join together providing an opportunity for the villains to finish off Anbu.  In comes Ayya's son Balu (Vishal) who has been abroad all this long and falls for the bubbly rural belle Sembaruthi (Keerthy Suresh).  How Balu uses his brains and brawn to fight Pechi and her gang and uphold the honor of Ayya forms the rest of the screenplay.

Vishal once again gives an earnest performance scoring both in both sentiments and romance sequences.  Needless to add that he is a man on fire in the action sequences especially impressing in his first fight in which he also has to pretend to the crowd that he is not involved in it.  As Rajkiran points out Vishal has not changed a wee bit in thirteen years which speaks volumes of his exemplary fitness levels.  Anyone who had doubts whether Keerthy Suresh can match Meera Jasmine's absolute rave performance in the original gets a shakeup.  The modern-day Savithri enjoys herself in the role of Sembaruthi the chronic chatterbox and instantly finds her way into the hearts of the audiences.  Her sprightly dance moves for "Sengarattan Paraiyule" and "Kambathu Ponnu" are an absolute delight to watch and it is no exaggeration to say that Keerthy is the real star of the show  Varalakshmi Sarathkumar gets to play the arch villain here but unfortunately the role is one dimensional  and she manages to rise above the script and shine only in the climax.  RajKiran majestically does an encore of his iconic role Ayya while Johnny Hari, Muniskanth, Harish Peradi, G. Gnanasambantham, and Arjai are the other actors who are noticeable among the cast.

Like as in the original the romance scenes between Vishal and Keerthy Suresh are the most enjoyable part of 'Sandakozhi 2'.  There is also drama involved as Vishal has to forfeit his love to uphold his father's honor which ups the interest.  The fight scene that intercuts between Vishal and Rajkiran tackling villains in different places is beautifully choreographed.  The one interaction scene between Keerthy and Rajkiran is cute.  The climax fight and the way Varu's character finds its arch though forced gives the film's theme it's rounding off.

On the downside, the screenplay is loaded with cliches and contrived situations that grounds it and it never gets to take off.  Repeated attempts by the villains to best Vishal even after they get duly bashed up is ridiculous, to say the least.  Many scenes, especially in the second half, are so lethargically written that its clearly an indication that the audiences have been taken for granted.  

Yuvan Shankar Raja elevates the Thiruvizha scenes with his vibrant background score and his theme for Varu actually gives her character the edge which the writing doesn't.  All the songs are foot-tapping and an eighties style pathos is also there for variety. K.A. Shakthivel has captured the essence of the rural setups with his choice of colors and bright lighting.  Praveen K.L. has done his best to keep the flow at a reasonable pace.  Vishal Film Factory, as usual, has spared no expense to get the film a rich look throughout.  N. Linguswamy has a huge fan base waiting for his return but sadly they have to wait longer as his directorial touch is evident only in the romance scenes and the climax.  From 'Sandakozhi 2' no one would expect innovation or novelty but the director owed his audience at least an engaging masala which he fails to cook up.

Verdict: Go for the enjoyable Vishal-Keerthy romance sequences and some well-choreographed action.