Rating: 2.5 stars
Nana Patekar makes an honest attempt to relive Sadhu Agashe in this week’s crime caper Ab Tak Chhappan 2, but director Aejaz Gulab’s unrealistic and impulsive approach lets Nana – and us – down.
Though debutant director Aejaz Gulab’s sequel of the 2004 sleeper hit, Ab Tak Chhappan was unfortunately not promoted well, it is still highly anticipated by the ones who loved the original Shimit Amin film. While talking to Aejaz after the screening of Ab Tak Chhappan 2 (ATC 2), the director who received mixed reviews from film critics, revealed to us that ATC 2 was supposed to release two years back but because of producer Ponty Chadha’s (Wave Cinemas) untimely death, it got postponed making it look dated.
Sadhu Agashe (Nana Patekar) is back and taking the count beyond chappan. The sequel of the much applauded original has the Home Minister Janardhan Jagirdar (Vikram Gokhale) along with Chief Minister Anna Saheb (Dilip Prabhawalkar) pledging to eradicate the menace caused by the wheelchair ridden underworld don Rawale (Raj Zutshi) who is operating from Bangkok.
Knowing that the ‘Gandhian’ approach won’t tackle the problem, the Encounter Squad is back to bring justice. A reluctant Saadhu, due to his son’s insistence, agrees to join forces and do what he does best, remove the pests of the society for good, no pun intended. But will an encounter squad with a clean slate manage to eradicate the menace? At what price would peace be got? Will peace ever come?
Sadhu lives a peaceful life with his only son in a village in Goa like Arnold Schwarzenegger of Commando movie who stays with his daughter at an isolated place before he rejoins Army. He derives immense pleasure in fishing, cooking, playing marbles with the village children and also spending time with himself on the boat in the middle of the waters. Meanwhile in Mumbai, when the dreaded underworld raises its ugly head again, in order to eradicate the same, Jagirdar and his management decides to call back Sadhu and reinstate him back in the police force but Sadhu rejects the offer much to their dismay. Sadhu’s son convinces him to join the police force.
No sooner he gets back to his job, he starts getting congratulatory messages from everyone, including Rawale. Amidst all this enters a crime reporter Shalu (Gul Panag), who, while seeking Sadhu’s help to finish her late father’s incomplete book on crime, goes onto become one of his close associates. Sadhu’s son gets killed by shooters, thus, leaving Sadhu totally shattered and devastated. The strife and resentment continues amongst the officers in the Crime Branch with Suryakant Thorat (Ashutosh Rana) vying for Sadhu’s position. With the help of Shalu, Saadhu discovers a shocking truth, which forces him to do his last encounter which he considers as an equivalent to the 56 encounters. Who were the killers of Sadhu’s innocent son and what was their motive, what shocking truth does Sadhu discover is what forms the rest of the story.
Debutante director Aejaz Gulab’s intentions are sincere to showcase his interpretation of Sadhu and his dealing with the contemporary crime scenario. Besides, the handling of the subject matter of ATC 2 is commendable. The film draws certain references from the original 2004 film where Nana asks his wife (Revathy) ‘Hing ko English mein kya bolte hai?’ As compared to the original, the sequel too looks extremely realistic and straight out of life.
The problem with ATC 2 is that it holds your attention intermittently. While the story doesn’t really move in the initial reels, it does gather momentum when Sadhu takes the charge. In fact, the first half of the film is slow-paced and gets talk-heavy at times.
The story does get interesting in the post-interval portions, but the sequence of events follows the beaten path after a point. The pace gathers momentum yet again when Sadhu along with Shalu tries to unravel a secret. Aejaz has handled a few sequences with flourish, especially the scenes between Sadhu and Suryakant and the one where Sadhu’s son gets killed. As also the sequence when Sadhu kills Jagirdar minutes before the film comes to a close.
The film scores distinction marks in the technical department. Cinematography by Siddharth More is of superior quality. The camera captures the bylanes of Mumbai with as much flourish as it captures the coastline of Goa. Sandeep Chowta’s background score is average. Action by Javed Eijaz looks straight out of life.
Needless to say, Nana Patekar delivers a flawless performance. In fact, it’s good to see the physically fit actor doing action scenes with finesse much like his young contemporaries. Ashutosh is good though he doesn’t have much to do. Vikram Gokhale is, like always, highly competent. Raj Zutshi makes his presence felt with a natural performance. Mohan Agashe is wonderful, enacting his part with utmost conviction. Dilip Prabhawalkar is adequate in a small role. Gul Panag don’t get ample scope, but leave a mark nonetheless.
On the whole, ATC 2 will appeal to a limited number of viewers, especially to those who loved the original but let me tell you it’s not as gripping and thrilling as the 2004 film.
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