'2.0' movie review: Rajinikanth, Akshay can't save this movie

Let's begin with a disclaimer. While we can agree that Rajinikanth's 2.0 is visually grand and more ambitious than its prequel, Enthiran, the former was certainly more entertaining.
In the sequel, we are introduced to a world where cellphones are flying into a black hole. The telecom operators cannot trace the location of the mobile phones and it is up to the scientist, Dr Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth) to find out what Pakshi Rajan (Akshay Kumar) is up to.

When nobody can figure out Pakshi Rajan, reviving Vaseegaran's robot, Chitti, is the need of the hour. And then there is Vaseegaran's girlfriend, Sana (played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Enthiran), who is over-demanding, insecure about him spending more time with his new female robot, Nila (played by Amy Jackson). She gives us the few, much-needed comic punches in this otherwise dry narrative and also comes to the rescue of the two men in the film. On the other hand, Sana's presence is only felt in the phone calls the couple exchanges, where she is mostly complaining.
An intelligent, charming domestic robot, Nila is instrumental in putting together an advanced Chitti, christened 2.0 in the film. She manages to stand on her own rather than being dwarfed by the two imposing Rajinikanths in the film.
In the second half, we are introduced to an emotional flashback with the ornithologist, Pakshi Rajan, campaigning against the use of cellphones. He tries relentlessly to make the consumers, ministers and telecom companies understand the harmful effects of high-frequency radiations from mobile towers on the birds.

His vigilantism, although impractical, will make you want to question your dependence on the mobile phones. Can we really limit our daily usage of phones and social media? In the times of 5G, would we not complain if we don't get a strong mobile signal?

Pakshi Rajan's angst about overuse of cellphones killing the birds isn't very convincing in the film. It is not a cause you fight for or a thought you leave the theatres with. Also, the science that director Shankar makes the central theme of the villain -- negative aura and energy manifesting into an evil bird -- left us dumbfounded.

Shankar has heavily invested himself in the film, taking care of the story, screenplay and direction of 2.0 and presents few striking visuals. The scenes in the first half of the cellphones forming a big wave and engulfing perpetrators in it, entering the human body and exploding them are striking, but lose novelty when repeated on three characters. With a weak storyline to hold it together, the film ends up being underwhelming.

Given the big budget he had at his disposal, he seemed to have overindulged in the VFX to a point where you just want it to wrap up. A duel between the gaint-sized Chitti and Pakshi Rajan in the sports arena would probably be one stand out scene in 2.0 along with Chitti opening fire through revolving guns (borrowed from Enthiran).

The filmmakers completely miss the point of conveying the message about cellphone overuse with the harsh tone they employ. Crazy fans won't mind the film owning to their adulation for Rajinikanth and the freshness of seeing Akshay Kumar in a negative role. But are those reasons enough?

The film ends with a scary possibility of another sequel, titled 3.0. For me, I was content with the entertaining Chitti in Enthiran and the makers could have just stopped there.

anita@khaleejtimes.com
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson

Director: Shankar Shanmugam

Ratings: 3/5