'Soodhu Kavvum' (2013) directed by Nalan Kumaraswamy is one of the most celebrated cult movies of Tamil cinema.  The film made stars of the then relatively unknown  Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha, Sanchitha Shetty and Karunakaran.  The sequel, 'Soodhu Kavvum 2', is out in theaters today and here we take a look at how much of an insult it is to the original.

Arumai Prakasam (Karunakaran), who enters politics at the end of the first part is now the corrupt Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu serving his third term.  He is the go to man of the Chief Minister Nallathambi (Radha Ravi).  Meanwhile Guru (Mirchi Shiva) is the schizophrenic kidnapper who operates by his own rule book much like Vijay Sethupathi in the original.  After a few petty crimes Guru gets to know that Arumai Prakasam is the cause of the death of his girlfriend Ammu (Harisha) who actually does not exist.  He kidnaps Arumai Prakasam who himself is hunted by two psycho cops Karate Karthi and Yog Japee.  What happens next should have been one hilarious roller coaster ride which sadly is not.

Mirchi Shiva for the first time has gone totally dark by hitting the liquor bottle in almost all the scenes he appears. Credit to him that he has pulled it off with effortless ease much like his comedy one liners.   Similarly Karunakaran also has done a neat job in the extension of the role that made him famous.  Veterans Chandrasekhar, Radha Ravi and MS. Bhaskar are pretty convincing as the seasoned politicians though their scenes appear to be from a completely different movie.  Harisha as the invisible girlfriend is required to just imitate Sanchita Shetty from the original and her looks help too.  Raghu, Yog Japee, Aruldoss, Kalki, Kavi and co succeed only in irritating the audiences with their uninspired antics.

What works best in 'Soodhu Kavvum 2' is the manner in which the original story is blended into it.  The one hilarious scene is when a half baked doctor performs a bullet removing surgery on the imaginary Ammu.  

On the downside the dark comedy attempted in 'Soodhu Kavvum 2' falls flat and the audience lose interest in the first half of the first half itself.  

Santhosh Narayanan's vibrant songs and BGM was a major highlight in 'Soodhu Kavvum' which unfortunately is missing here.  The cinematography complements the genre while the editing could have been way better. S. Thangaraj has produced the film which is presented by C.V. Kumar.  Debutante Writer- Director S.J. Arjun is found wanting in both the capacities.

Verdict : Go for this if you are a die hard fan of Mirchi Shiva and don't care much about the rest