2.0 (3D, Tamil, Movie review)

Spoilers embedded. 

With 2.0 Shankar is back with his social vigilante theme - an ornithologist strongly believes that unauthorised high energy waves from cellphone towers are killing our neighbourhood birds; he takes up the fight against the system (made of businessmen, politicians and mobile users) by way of pamphlets, slogans and meetings. He is snubbed. His love for the birds is no match for the people's love for their mobiles. Like in all Shankar movies (remember Indian, Gentleman, Sivaji, etc.), where beyond a point the fight cannot follow legal methods, in 2.0 too the bird-lover takes the path of violence. So far, so good. The movie fits in the director's template. But with a twist - the ornithologist is not the film's hero; he is the antagonist. And, we have a fault line here.

At times, while watching Baahubali (S.S.Rajamouli/2015) you get a frighteningly strong feeling that when it comes to grandeur on screen Shankar is passe and SSR is the new address to reckon with. But the industry's original mega-budget director gets back with a bang in 2.0. The visual effects are truly stunning and one-of-its kind. You have to give it to his sheer vision and meticulous execution spread over years. A mind-numbing level of work has gone into the film. You can feel it. The end credits run like the pages of a newspaper with 8 columns and some 30 rows. 

But, where the movie has missed out is, unlike Baahubali or for that matter Avatar or Titanic, in 2.0 the soul of the movie gets fogged and dazzled by the jaw-dropping visuals. In Guna (Santhana Bharathi/1991) we have seen a man's love for a sparrow, and his unbearable pain when the chirpy bird gets killed. We too have felt the pain with him. We cried with a mentally-affected man. Just a broken house atop a hill, a man, a dead sparrow - and magic! Sadly, we don't get that kind of connect with Pakshirajan (the ornithologist, Akshay Kumar), even though hundreds of birds are killed, and our man tries to save birds even after his own death. 

There are some witty one liners like 'Your call is disconnected', 'Vaanga da selfie pasangala', etc. that invite smiles from time to time. But beyond these puns the dialogues are a major let down. May be, it is because of the science-heavy content. More care with the dialogues would have drawn us closer to the characters. Also, most of the key characters on screen do not have proper lip sync or even if they have they do not have accents matching their profile. For instance, the police chief Mr.Rajendran speaks Tamil with a strange accent; The CM, another thorough Tamil gentleman, speaks with a Malayalam tinge making us relive the days of (late) Cochin Haneefa. Oh yes, forget the North Indian actors, they just talk in Hindi while the voice that comes out is Tamil. Perhaps, a sci-fi film allows such liberties.

2.0 makes you realise how much we are addicted to Shankar's fresh and creative songs.  In this film we keep waiting for it, and the wait is rather very long. But when it comes, it brings excitement. A R Rahman and team have done a wonderful job with the background score.  The album too is a pure delight. Building upon Enthiran's lyrics Madhan Karky has given us some refreshing techno, scifi, AI-philia lines in 'Endhira Logathu Sundariye..."

Amy Jackson has acted effortlessly and everyone will agree with me on that. This is one of the best roles she could aspire for. Most other actors do not bother to leave a mark. They just exist. Many of them could have been replaced by even 2D cartoons; it would not have affected the film in any way. But it is not their fault; blame it on the rootless characters they play. Beginning with the bunch of college guys in the first scene till about the end, there is not one single character that tries to find a place in your hearts and minds. And that is not good for a film. 

But there is one person who royally makes up for everyone else. It is superstar Rajnikanth. Just when you feel you have enjoyed seeing enough of him, he flies farther and takes you to a new level; and from there again to a newer place. 2.0 is out-and-out a Rajni film. Style, action, imagination. Also a bit of brilliance. Super star rocks.

2.0 does not make you cry or laugh. 

But it surely leaves you awed, confused and happy too.