Movie review 'Ab Tak Chhappan 2': A lame encounter

Encounter specialists in Mumbai’s ‘force’ must watch more Bollywood movies. If Sadhu Agashe (Nana Patekar), the fast-shooting encounter cop from the original Ab Tak Chhappan, is the benchmark for such government-sanctioned killers, surely, they must at least know by now what we the audience can predict from the start of the movie: that cops must never blindly trust politicians.

Whatever happened to Sadhu in ten years? Retiring to his seaside home, cutting coconuts, fishing and playing marbles with the kids, the man who single-handedly eliminated the ‘underworld of the city’ while suffering devastating personal loss, sure seems to have lost his plot.

Nana brings out the hidden anguish in him with great gravitas in the opening scenes, speaking in monosyllables, and bonding with his son without melodrama, but we know he will be back.

Returning to the ‘force’ at the insistence of the home minister Janardhan Jagirdar (Vikram Gokhale), the kind persuasion of his mentor former Commissioner Pradhan (Mohan Agashe) and the philosophical perspective put forth by his only son, Sadhu realises early on that the government, the police, the system and even the underworld goons have changed dramatically. Apparently, now there are only three or four high profile dons and the rest of the killers are all hired on a contract basis.

His colleagues are a bunch of untrustworthy, out of shape, dim-witted but highly ambitious group. So, as is expected, the first few reels are spent focusing on Sadhu’s killing adventures and how he continues to overshadow his disgruntled group when it comes to ‘being in focus.’

But then, Sadhu goes about doing this business with terrible naiveté, and it is impossible to be hooked to whatever he does in the name of cleaning the city. One scene after the other arrives with precision predictability, and by the time the ‘villain’ is revealed, you lose all interest.

The sequel to Shimit Amin’s stylishly designed and directed original, indeed, suffers from a lack of credible plot in the hands of director Aejaz Gulab and is dampened further by chunky dialogues. The script goes in a pretty straight ‘honest cop returns, will kill villain’ mode with no real twists or absorbing moments.

Guess the sight of Bollywood cops pumping bullets in cold blood into caricature-like villains has now run its course. The stereotypical notions associated with cops, media and politicians are once again recycled in Ab Tak Chhappan 2, and it is left to Nana Patekar to give it life, dynamism and a sense of credibility.

The versatile actor doesn’t let you down; he is in form – and plays Sadhu with the right dose of detachment and nonchalance. With seasoned theatre actors like Vikram Gokhale and Mohan Agashe in the cast, the film does not suffer from poor acting. Gul Panang, as the ‘crime reporter,’ also does her job with conviction.

But despite being just about two hours long, Ab Tak Chhappan 2 seems laboured. It lacks punch, it lacks nail-biting action, and it has nothing new to say.

Nana Patekar is a great actor to watch, but by putting him in a role he can sleep-walk through, this film does him no favours. A one-time watch if you may; expect nothing and be ready for another also-ran from the Bollywood stable.