Review: Vidyut Jammwal’s Khuda Haafiz 2 Is Part Good Action, Part Contrived Plot

Vidyut Jammwal's 'Khuda Haafiz 2: Agni Pariksha' hit theatres on 8 July.

Vidyut Jammwal in a still from Khuda Haafiz 2.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

Khuda Haafiz got an OTT release in 2020. The new installment is here aptly titled Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2: Agni Pariksha as it opts for a theatrical release. While Sameer and Nargis‘ thread continues, watching the predecessor first is no prerequisite to get a grip on this one.

The two are back in Lucknow where Nargis (Shivaleeka Oberoi) is still fighting the demons of her past and consequently Sameer (Vidyut Jammwal) is sad.

If, in Chapter 1, he played a desperate husband trying to find his wife, in Chapter 2 we see a father pushed to a frightening brink.

A still from Khuda Haafiz 2.

He is still angry but the film takes its time before allowing Jammwal to be his natural self as he makes mincemeat of his adversaries...sometimes with his bare hands and at other times by poking them with a sharp knife.

Many throats are slit, blood vessels cut open and our fuming man wreaks havoc. His desperation first takes him to the prison cell and then Egypt. In Chapter 1 Sameer journeyed to the fictional town of Noman in the Middle East. This time around he must go to Egypt as “unke saath hamari extradition treaty bhi nahi hai“. So the government can’t but hero must!

Vidyut Jammwal in a still from Khuda Haafiz 2.

Before that and right after the interval a full fledged battle with blood and gore is fought. Jammwal first fixes his prey with his steely gaze and then out-maneuvers them with brute force. It’s no doubt an arresting sight (even though the bloody action sometimes is hard to watch).

The thing with a Vidyut Jammwal film is that we can’t help but go in with a checklist of things to expect.

In this case it isn’t as much to do with the franchise or the narrative trajectory but everything to do with our jaw clenching hero ever ready to play the saviour and who has made a career and identity out of performing his own gravity defying stunts.

It comes off like women invariably need someone to save them. It’s not surprising therefore that even though the tragedy that strikes them gives the story and our hero the impetus to fight, eventually they are unimportant in the larger scheme of things.

Vidyut Jammwal in a still from Khuda Haafiz 2.

Director Faruk Kabir tries hard to set the premise and show us how pain can transform an ordinary man and grant him superhuman strength but the overwrought plot never touches us in the way to care enough.

Vidyut Jammwal contorts his facial muscles to show different shades of pain and frustration. When all else fails he screams his lungs out. Everything just feels a little too on the nose. The purpose is to see Vidyut Jammwal in action. It’s also what he looks most comfortable doing.

Sheeba Chaddha plays a prominent role as the evil thakur ready to go to any extent to protect her own. But crime against women and even crime by women is all a ploy to showcase male bravado.

Sheeba Chaddha in a still from Khuda Haafiz 2.

The drudgery is inescapable because it goes through a road often traveled by mainstream films where the pitfalls are familiar and expected.

Rajesh Tailang’s character of a TV anchor modeled on one Ravish Kumar is the conscience keeper of the film. Tailang’s piece to camera is mostly laced with rhetorical questions as if the film doesn’t trust us enough to be dismayed at the state of affairs. He spells it out for us and also tells us what to feel.

Shivaalika Oberoi walks into the proceedings and is scooped out at will. Sheeba Chhadha speaks her dialogues with relish but she knows as well as we do precious little is going to come out of it. If checking out Vidyut’s action is your greatest pull. Go watch it.

Rating: 2 Quints out of 5