Soodhu Kavvum 2 Film Review

Those who have seen the 2013 film, Soodhu Kavvum would remember the freshness and creativity that made the film tower above others. The brand of dark comedy used was relatively new to Tamil cinema, but it was the strong characterisation and the zaniness of the plot that made the film an iconic one and a point of reference for many aspirant directors.

C.V. Kumar, who produced the original film, is the producer of the 2024 sequel which has Shiva in the lead role and retaining actors Karunakaran, Radha Ravi and MS Bhaskar from the original. The cast also includes Harisha, Vagai Chandrasekhar, Karate Karthi, Raghu Adithya, Yog Japee and Aruldoss. The sequel also features footage from the original that includes Vijay Sethupathi, Ashok Selvan, Bobby Simha, Ramesh Thilak and Sanchita Shetty.

Soodhu Kavvum 2 begins as a prequel and then morphs into a sequel. Gurunath (Mirchi Shiva) kidnaps politician, Arumai Pragasam (Karunakaran) as an act of vengeance but the incident sparks a series of consequences in which politics merges with multiple social issues. The situation becomes more complex with the involvement of the policeman, Devanayagam (Karate Karthi) and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Sathyaseelan (Radha Ravi).

This synopsis might give the impression that the film has an engaging plot and an interesting story – but nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst Soodhu Kavvum also had what appeared to be a chaotic and haphazard sequence of events to the viewer, director Nalan Kumarasamy had firm control of the events, stitching them expertly with a healthy dose of humour. In the case of Soodhu Kavvum 2, director SJ Arjun seemed to have put together the shooting schedule for the day on the day of shooting, as there is no thread – logical or otherwise – that can link up the events. Worse for the viewer is that Arjun has confused stupidity with humour, and it gets so bad that even the imaginary girlfriend – which was a source of delightful entertainment in the original movie – becomes akin to playing along with the wild imagination of a lunatic.

There are no impressive acting moments anywhere in the film – not even from the likes of talented actors like MS Bhaskar, Karunakaran and Chandrasekhar – and this is because the script is a disjointed mess, unable to develop any of the characters and unable to weave any interest into the plot.

Karthik K Thillai has sparse creativity in an otherwise unimpressive visual display, taking on the title of cinematographer but limiting his role to a mere cameraman.

Hari SR’s background score and the soundtrack by Edwin Louis Viswanath shows no creativity at all, but is perfectly in synch with the rest of the film.

Soodhu Kavvum 2 is easily one of the worst films I have seen in the last 2 years, probably ranking among the worst 3 films I have ever seen.

Soodhu Kavvum 2 scores 1 point out of 10.