Review: 'Satyameva Jayate 2' is All Noise And No Substance
Satyameva Jayate 2 is directed by Milap Zaveri.
John Abraham in a poster from 'Satyameva Jayate 2'.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
Satyameva Jayate it is, so truth must triumph. I must be honest and tell you right at the outset that Satyameva Jayate 2 takes us to places that even Sooryavanshi spared us from. Rest I leave to your good sense.
The fact is that there is no escaping John Abraham. He is on the left side of the screen as the bespectacled Home minister. He is also on the right of the screen as a police officer. Turn around, and there he stands as the moustached pitaji. And look up, you can spot him jumping in a hoodie, chasing baddies.
John Abraham in Satyameva Jayate 2.
All-pervasive and all-powerful - John is the slayer of bad people, the saviour of the downtrodden. Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. He is the Karwa Chauth keeper to his wife (Divya Khosla Kumar), who has a single expression throughout the movie. John is also the owner of bulging muscles and chiselled abs who, when angry, appears to be walking with dumbbells on his cervical. Satyameva Jayate 2 is mind-bogglingly, excruciatingly loud, on-the-nose, screechy and melodramatic.
For a film that clearly doesn’t want to even spell subtle, I won’t critique it on the finer aspects of filmmaking. No point wondering that when none of the characters have been shown suffering from a hearing impairment, why should everyone shout at the top of their voices? Who do they want to be heard by? The fellow actor, who is some inches away? Or the audience sitting in the same theatre and watching?
I would like to to assure writer director Milap Zaveri that anything in the normal human decibel level is perfectly audible. There was no need to make people shout, rhyme, then echo to melodramatic lines. It only leaves us with a headache.
It’s highly unlikely that all the ills ailing our society will seek counsel from members of ONE family only.
In Satyameva Jayate 2, John breaks a solid table into two by merely resting his elbow on it. And two other Johns pull a whole helicopter down. Three Johns will make us shut our ears. And one John drops goons just because the National Anthem starts playing. That sequence is mind-blowing, and if there is one reason you need to watch this film (and I’m not judging you) make it this one. The men keep hammering him with punches and laathis, but our dear deshbhakt John, with clenched fists, mutters “tann mann dhan se pehle Jana gana mana”.
John Abraham in Satyameva Jayate 2.
Nora Fatehi does a full belly dance, but John doesn’t get distracted. He wears a hoodie and beats up people. Then he hits some more people. After interval, he puts on a moustache and beats up some more guys. The mob he incites finishes the job for him, and a top-angle shot reveals that the mob is in the shape of the map of India! Even the Aadhaar Card can’t be any more nationalistic than this film.
Seasoned actors like Annup Sonii, and Harsh Chhaya have been reduced to bellowing entities. The only calming presence in this din is Gautami Kapoor’s serene smile. Her tears are the most authentic, her pain is so real that she lies in bed and smartly refuses to open her eyes till they promise to go home quietly. It’s for Gautami that yours truly didn't stage a walkout, even though the going got tough.
How many Johns will it take to convince John that he doesn’t need to try so hard?
Our rating: 1 Quint Out of 5
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