Actor Raghava Lawrence made a name for himself by working on a series of films that belonged to the horror-comedy genre, and the most popular of them all is the Kanchana series. Considering his previous batting average in this genre, I had expected Chandramukhi 2 to cover at least the bases — the comedy. What I did not expect was to see the film be packed with a story that is entirely repurposed from Chandramukhi, which in turn is a remake of the 1993 Malayalam movie Manichitrathazhu. Even if I had to give the benefit of the doubt to this film and pin the hopes on the comedy that is steered by ‘Vaigai Puyal’ Vadivelu, there is not much to look forward to here.
The reason why I felt that the movie was stale and repurposed, is not only due to this familiar storyline, but also the constant callbacks to certain iconic moments of Chandramukhi featuring Rajinikanth and Vadivelu. It is clear that the filmmakers have largely depended on repeating the success of the previous movie by using it as a formula. Even certain shots, like the close-up of the eyes when one of the family members is possessed by Chandramukhi, or the shot of three people peeping out of a small window to see the possessed Chandramukhi dancing, is all the same. Even the role of a house help, which was played by Nayanthara in Chandramukhi is back. Only, in this film, the young woman is played by Mahima Nambiar. She is paired opposite Raghava Lawrence.
Forget refreshing storyline, with such lazy writing, it truly would be better to tune into the previous film on OTT, instead of spending currency on the ever-rising ticket prices.
On a side note, Kangana Ranaut doesn’t really make an impression as Chandramukhi in the film. It is not really about the screen time for her character, but more the style of acting that she has decided to inculcate for the film. In a word, melodramatic. I am looking forward to some creative memes, especially of the scene in which she is forced to witness her lover get beheaded.
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