Thamizh Padam 2 review: Parody film does away with niceties, scores big

Director CS Amudhan’s Thamizh Padam worked for one and only one reason and that was his willingness to rip apart the lunacies and idiosyncracies of the stars in the Tamil film industry through his film without any fear whatsoever. He does just that again in Thamizh Padam 2 and that may well be the reason why this film too could go on to become a superhit.

This spoof of Tamil cinema literally spares no one. Be it prime minister Modi or Tamil Nadu deputy  chief minister O Panneer Selvam or former AIADMK secretary Sasikala or actor Rajinikanth or Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan, the film takes potshots at all of them – either for actions performed on screen, or off it. The man occupying the most important positions in two of the most powerful bodies of the Tamil film industry, Vishal, is not spared either.

Not just that, the film also takes a swipe at some general aspects of filmmaking that appear to be wrong and hits out mercilessly at basic flaws evident to the entire world, but to which the film industry has always been blind.

The entire exercise is downright hilarious. To give you an idea of what the film is like, here’s how the story goes.

Shiva (played by Shiva) is supposed to be an undercover cop who is trying to nab an international culprit called P (played by Satish). The only problem is that his appointment to the undercover position is announced to the entire world by way of a function to which the whole state is invited.  

Next, like in most Tamil movies, Shiva’s wife, Priya (Disha Pandey) gets killed by the baddies. And as is the case in most films, a day after his wife’s death, Shiva’s grandmother (Kalai Rani) asks him how long would he continue to mourn his wife and that it is unbearable for her to see him tormenting himself over his dead wife.

She suggests that he get married again. ‘Get married again. If not for your sake, at least for the sake of your children,’ she pleads. Shiva reminds her that he has no children. ‘That’s exactly my point. You don’t have children. To have children you need to marry and that is why you need to marry again,’ she insists.

Soon, as per the favourite formula of directors, the hero falls in love with a girl in just an instant. To be qualified to fall in love with him, the heroine has to fulfill three difficult conditions. First, she must be downright dumb. Two, she must eat an ice cream when it is pouring and three, she must chase a puppy. This is obviously a potshot directors who look to portray their heroines as senseless objects.

When Ramya (Ishwarya Menon) meets these three 'highly challenging' requirements, Shiva falls for her. After a point, even she gets killed, and then, he again falls in love with another lookalike of Ramya. Of course, it is for the same reason. What will happen to his children if he continues to lament the ones who have gone and not marry? So, this time, he meets Gayathri (Ishwarya Menon), who bears a striking resemblance to his Ramya and falls in love. The process continues. Soon, there is a wall full of photographs of all the girls that Shiva has fallen in love with and who, eventually get killed.

On the professional front, Shiva is busy going after the notorious criminal P, who does everything that a traditional villain from the Tamil film industry would do. But that is meant to be watched not read. So, we'll skip that part.

The film is totally irreverential and that is its biggest strength. Moreover, what works in favour of the film is that Amudhan has not limited to training his guns on only film stars but also politicians, including those in power. For instance, there is a sequence in the film where Shiva goes to the grave of his wife and sits in silence doing penance. This is actually a swipe at what the present deputy chief minister of the state Panneerselvam did when he was compelled to resign from the chief minister’s post by former AIADMK secretary Sasikala.

Almost in the same sequence, Shiva’s grandmother furiously strikes thrice on the tombstone of Shiva’s first wife. When Shiva questions her actions, she says she has taken a vow to get him married again. The sequence bears an unmistakable resemblance to the drama that unfolded when AIADMK secretary Sasikala was arrested. Sasikala went to the beach where she struck the grave of former TN chief minister J Jayalalithaa thrice and took a vow.

Amudhan’s Thamizh Padam 2 also makes fun of Rajinikanth’s indecisiveness in politics and his decision to maintain a stoic silence when people expected him to speak up in defence of justice.

If Rajinikanth’s inactiveness is mocked, so is Vishal’s greed for power. The opening sequence in fact has an old farmer crying in distress at being unable to harvest coconuts. Shiva comes to his aid by making his jeep fly. The flying vehicle knocks the tree and brings down the coconuts and Shiva, in a style that is distinctly Vishal’s, proclaims that he is there for farmers. The old farmer in return blesses Shiva that he win all the postions in all the bodies.

Shiva does a fantastic job in the film. He keeps a straight face, while enacting even the most ridiculous of sequences. The same can be said of Ishwarya Menon as well. Together, the two make quite an impact. Actor Satish, who plays the villain P, too clicks in this film.

Amudhan has to be given credit for his willingness to break the norm and tell a story as it deserves to be told, without bothering about niceties. It takes courage to hold a mirror to the face of an extremely unforgiving and ruthless industry and Amudhan has done that a second time. Just for this sake, Thamizh Padam 2 needs to be watched.