Gadar 2 Movie Review: Sunny Deol's melodramatic and outdated flick is more noise and less impact

There's no denying that Sunny Deol's cult 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha has given many iconic pop culture moments to Hindi cinema. So the excitement was indeed palpable when it was announced that Anil Sharma is bringing back the sequel to the blockbuster film. However, the need was to cater the screenplay, dialogues, and execution in alignment with the current wave of cinema and not the 2000s. But the Sunny Deol starrer turns out to be an outdated and melodramatic product with some deafening noises and no impact.

The plot revolves around the backdrop of Pakistan’s Crush India movement in 1971 wherein a vengeful and anti-Hindu Pakistani General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa) wishes to take revenge on Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) for eliminating his 40 men back in 1947 while taking back his wife Sakeena and Jeete (Utkarsh Sharma) to India. In fateful circumstances, Tara’s son gets stranded with the vicious Pakistani General who tortures him to no end which makes Tara once again take a precarious mission to rescue his son. The father-son duo faces innumerable obstacles on this dangerous journey with just the spirit of togetherness and patriotism keeping them alive.

While Anil Sharma retains the message of the original film which is that love for one’s country and family conquers all obstacles, the shoddy and outdated screenplay continues to exist in 2001. The dialogues come across as extremely preachy and jingoistic with everyone shouting at the top of their lungs to prove a point. The sequences involving Jeete’s quest to initially find his father in Pakistan become laborious and weary with a romantic track that does not strike a chord for being too dramatic. Some of the actions as well as the survival sequences become unreasonable and illogical. The movie unfortunately relies a lot on the nostalgic value instead of adding any new flavors to the sequel. If not for the superstardom of Sunny Deol and the legacy of the original film, Gadar 2 goes haywire on many levels. The writing by Shaktimaan Talwar has a massy tint but is too obsolete to strike a chord. The background score is too blaring which does not command our attention but instead becomes a snoozefest.

Talking about the performances, Sunny Deol though does not have a very prolonged screen time in Gadar 2, is the only sole anchor who holds the film tight. Despite the poor script and screenplay, he proves that his stardom is unfazed and charisma is unwavering. A subtle call back to his iconic handpump scene and the patriotic dialogues are one of the main saving grace of the film. Utkarsh Sharma manages to shine and delivers a promising act. He delivers fierceness and vulnerability in his performance at the same time and matches Sunny’s energy in a seamless way. Ameesha Patel alas struggles the most. In the majority of the scenes, we find her crying, laughing, blushing, beaming, and gazing a little too intensely to prove a point. We cannot blame her though since the character was etched out in such a melodramatic way.

Manish Wadhwa does full justice to the character of the main antagonist even though it is full of laughable stereotypes which look more comical and less menacing. Simrat Kaur tries to deliver her best but her emotions look forced and over-the-top half of the time and the chemistry with Utkarsh is just not there.

Coming to the technicalities, the action sequences are choreographed in an intense manner and there are some scenes that rely on gore and blood. It mostly looks more appealing due to Sunny Deol’s brilliant screen command and machismo. The renditions of the original songs like ‘Main Nikla Gaddi Leke’ and ‘Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava’ by the evergreen Udit Narayan are the complete show-stealers and will make you revisit the nostalgia. In the new soundtrack, only ‘Khairiyat’ by Arijit Singh stands out.

Gadar 2 does not hit the mark due to its archaic execution, preachy dialogues, and melodramatic performances. It could’ve worked wonders if the screenplay would have been catered to the mature audience. However, for all the fans of Sunny Paaji out there, a visit to the theatre once for this is definitely advisable.