Dhilukku Dhuddu 2 is one of those horror-comedy flicks which strictly play by the book and deliver a reasonably fun outing.
Dhilukku Dhuddu 2 review: A horror comedy with better jokes, bland thrills
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 07 Feb 2019 / Rated: U/A / 01hr 57min
Haricharan Pudipeddi | Chennai, 08 Feb 2019 15:51 IST
Dhilukku Dhuddu 2 is one of those horror comedy flicks which strictly play by the book and deliver a reasonably fun outing. It works better as a comedy flick that merely uses the horror template for generating some cheap thrills. Even though cut from the same cloth as most horror comedies of Tamil cinema; what really work in the film’s favour are the jokes which most of the times don’t really click in such projects.
Santhanam plays a character called Vijay, a wastrel, who lives with his uncle (Rajendran) and together they give sleepless nights to their neighbours, thanks to their irritating drinking habits. Karthik, one of their neighbours, a doctor, decides to teach them a lesson with the help of a few others. After numerous failed attempts, Karthik learns something wicked about his colleague Maya (Shritha) when he expresses his love to her.
He understands there’s something sinister about Maya and he tries to make Vijay fall for her. Vijay meets Maya by accident and he immediately falls for her. To seek permission from Maya’s family to marry her, he goes to Kerala and what follows forms the crux of the story.
Santhanam’s growth as an actor from a comedian to a hero is unprecedented. It’s worth mentioning that he’s a self-made man and his journey is quite inspiring. Despite graduating to a hero, he hasn’t given up on his strengths which are his style of comedy with inimitable one-liners.
Even though Santhanam plays the hero of Dhilukku Dhuddu 2, it’s only when he gets into the comic mode do we really feel like rooting for his character. As a hero, he has a decent screen presence and he looks the part but he still has a long way to go before actually making an impact. Despite all the effort that has been put into making Santhanam needlessly justify his hero image, the first 20-odd minutes of the film is an ordeal to sit through.
Santhanam and Rajendran, who team up to bring the roof down, are flat-out terrific in some of the film’s best scenes. Unlike his regular style of comedy which gets quite personal at times and he resorts to body shaming to make his jokes work, Dhilukku Dhuddu 2 works because the jokes are on the ghost, and for once, body shaming doesn’t come across as offensive. There is a scene where a character when surrounded by a group of ghosts, jokes about how he wishes they bathe on a regular basis.
As a horror film, Dhilukku Dhuddu 2 is quite predictable and if not for Santhanam and his battalion of popular comedians, it would’ve been a boring watch.
After a dull start, the film makes it up with good dose of comedy at regular intervals.
The climax stretch which unfolds in a haunted mansion is outright hilarious. Some of the film’s best moments are reserved for the last half hour and they work as a very strong pay-off.