Item: Gadar 2
Rating: 3
Author: Avinash Lohana

We, the audience, often have diverse reasons to watch a film. Sometimes you see it for the story, sometimes for the actors involved in it, sometimes for performances, and more often than not for the entertainment. But then there are few movies that you watch for your love of cinema, and the nostalgia attached to it. Anil Sharma’s Gadar 2 headlined by Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, Utkarsh Sharma and Simrat Kaur falls under the latter category. The sequel isn't perfect, but what works in its favor is retaining the innocence, charm and the feel of the 2001 original. How that benefits the film, read on to find out…

Plot

Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) successfully manages to bring Sakeena (Ameesha Patel) to India, which irks Pakistani General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa). He vows to take revenge for the loss of his 40 army men, and begins by punishing Sukku’s father Mayor Ashraf Ali (Amrish Puri) with a death sentence. The General is still not satisfied and wants to teach Tara Singh a lesson, however he is unable to do so until 1971, when he gets a chance to capture the protagonist. The news of Tara’s arrest spreads, and unable to see Sakeena’s plight, their son Jeete aka Charanjeet Singh (Utkarsh Sharma) enters Pakistan to bring his missing father back to India. Unfortunately, he himself is apprehended in the neighboring country, and how the father-son duo later manage to escape Pakistan is for you to see in Gadar 2.

What’s Hot?

Anil Sharma plays up on nostalgia for Gadar 2, which works in the favor of this sequel. From Sunny and Ameesha reprising their original characters, to bringing back the same supporting cast including, Madhumalti Kapoor, Mushtaq Khan, Dolly Bindra and Rakesh Bedi - the director has managed to retain the world of Gadar, thus establishing relatability with his audience. Furthermore, the narrative introduces two classic songs “Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava'' and “Main Nikla Gaddi Leke'' in this first 30 minutes of the film, where Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik’s voice makes up for the slow paced narrative in the first half. This portion is also laden with many flashback shots from the original, which will make sure that you stick to the film.

Adding on to this blast from the past marathon is the iconic hand pump moment, which returns for the second installment in the franchise. Its treatment in Gadar 2 is both enthralling and funny. Interestingly, Tara Singh has even got an upgraded weapon this time, which will attract a lot of applause and excitement from the audience. Several dialogues leave an impact, and are bound to age well for the Indian audience with time. For instance, lines like “Tara Singh damaad hai Pakistan ka, nariyal fodo, teeka lagao, varna iss baar woh dahej mein pura Lahore le jayega,” invites loud cheers in the cinema hall.

On the technical front, DOP Najeeb Khan’s cinematography brings alive the world of Gadar, and is ably supported by Muneesh Sappel’s production design. Monty Sharma’s background music helps lift up a few weak sequences.

What’s Not?

While the second half of Gadar 2 has many high points, it is the first half where one struggles to keep focus because of the lackluster screenplay. The overall run time of approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes could have been brought down by reducing two specific songs, “Khairiyat” and “Chal Tere Ishq Mein”. Both come up at a time when one expects more impactful narrative moves. Mithoon’s overall music, barring the two original songs, is quite forgettable.

There are a lot of decently choreographed action sequences by Ravi Verma, Tinu Verma, Shyam Kaushal and Abbas Ali Moghul in the second half, but one misses to see that action side of Tara Singh in the first half of Gadar 2. Adding those would have helped balance the narrative in the initial portion of the movie. There are a couple of dialogues in English too, which seem unnecessary and could have been kept in Hindi to appeal to a larger audience.

Choreography by Shabina Khan is average, while editors Ashfaq Makrani and Sanjay Sankhla could have collaborated with Anil Sharma on the editing table to give a more comprehensive approach to the overall narrative.

Performances

Sunny Deol as Tara Singh is in top form, and carries the major entertainment quotient of the film on his shoulders. Ameesha Patel as Sakeena is consistent but not necessarily impressive, while Utkarsh Sharma shines in many sequences in the second half especially the action ones, but struggles to hold his ground in the first half of the movie. Simrat Kaur as Jeete’s love interest Muskaan does justice to what she was offered, but it was the overall character that required a little more polishing on the script level. Manish Wadhwa does an impressive job as General Hamid Iqbal, while Gaurav Chopra makes his presence felt, but Luv Sinha is wasted in Gadar 2.

Final Verdict

Technicalities aside, Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, Utkarsh Sharma and Simrat Kaur’s Gadar 2 is a sincere attempt to recreate the world of the original, and has its heart in the right place. I saw the film with an audience that rooted for Tara Singh, danced when he sang on screen, and cheered for him when he beat up the bad guys. If this does not prove the impact of the film, then what does? So if you are a fan of Anil Sharma’s original, then give a chance to Gadar 2. You might love it…