2.0

After delivering Enthiran, one of the biggest ever Indian films up until then, back in 2010, director Shankar is back with its highly-anticipated sequel, 2.0. In this Magnum opus bankrolled by Lyca Productions, we have a reloaded 2.0 version of Chitti, Superstar Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, and Amy Jackson playing the lead roles with AR Rahman handling the music, Nirav Shah behind the lens, Anthony with the cuts and Resul Pookutty designing the sounds.

Right from the word go, we are brought to the biggest conflict of the film. All the cell phones in a particular city start to disappear all of a sudden. When the ministers realize no amount of human power can stop this force, with the help of Dr. Vaseegaran, they resort to restoring Chitti, the robot.

Needless to say, the majority of 2.0's HUGE budget was spent on the VFX department. But, we can say without a doubt that this is one of the finest VFX outputs India has ever seen. In a sci-fi film of international standards with a message that is universal, the VFX plays the biggest role and the execution seems to be brilliant. The choice to go ahead with 3D and SRL 4D sound have worked wonders for the scale of the film and the intricacies behind the making deserve applause.

For all these years, Shankar has been regarded as the visionary who introduces to us, various aspects of science and technology that we are mostly unaware of. It is extremely fascinating to see him integrate so many ideas into the screenplay. There are scientific terms that amaze us at regular intervals.

The film, however, falls into the trap of a screenplay that has been tried and tested multiple times and that happens to be the biggest drawback of 2.0. If the presentation of the story was done in a tighter manner, it could have worked better for a certain section of the audience. Following the pattern of what he has already done in films like Anniyan and Shivaji could prove to be redundant to a few and lessen the engagement factor. The revenge aspect shines brightly yet again. We have Shankar's typical touches of comedy and romance. But this time, they seem to be minimalized a lot. The film slides into the story very early thereby not allowing any deviations.

For all the Superstar fans, there is plenty to rejoice. The quintessential Rajini moments in the form of action scenes and dialogues are abundant. In the pre-climax portions, the film reaches its peak with the reloaded 2.0 taking shape. It is always a pleasure to watch Rajinikanth perform in the villainous scenes as he nails it once again. He delivers the dialogues with ease and his taunting nature is immensely enjoyable. As Vaseegaran and Chitti too, Rajini is impressive. He keeps proving that age is no bar, except in very few sequences where he is required to physically exert himself a lot.

Akshay Kumar proves himself to be a wonderful performer time and again. His role in 2.0 is the central character around whom the conflict is based. It is a tough role to pull off, barring the fact that his screen time is substantially lesser. He appears in a different form, yet never ceases to impress us.

Amy Jackson as a robot is quite impressive. She doesn't have to do much, and her casting falls right in place. There are many actors who play their parts well, even though the lip- sync is not on point due to the fact that this is a bilingual film. This includes Sudhanshu Pandey and Adil Hussain, who again have very minimal space in the screenplay.

AR Rahman's work in this film could almost go unnoticed as the sound effects are mostly overpowering. But the scenes in which he gets the space, he aces his work. Resul Pookutty must be highly appreciated for delivering a sound of such standards. The SRL 4D sound is a big boon to 2.0.

Nirav Shah as the cinematographer also deserves praise. Being a 3D film, it is quite a tough task to shoot it. But his work seems effortless as the cinematography is very appealing. The colors and lighting perfectly suit the film. Anthony's cuts are neat and pose no threat to the film.

But it all comes down to the climax fight sequence. Shankar, having designed the sequences, proves to be someone with an insane sense of imagination. The formations, the new ideas and reloaded versions of older techniques just come together to form an amalgamation of something that is to be seen with awe. The introduction of another character of Rajinikanth in the climax is something extremely interesting. It works very well for the audience and could entertain a larger section of society.

On the whole, without giving up on Superstar's swag, Akshay's performance and his love for spectacularly grand scenes, Shankar presents us with a product that cannot be sidelined. With contemporary touches and technological infusions, 2.0 is a brand that could stand tough against the biggest of Hollywood franchises.

Enthira Logathu Sundariye
Vocals: Sid Sriram, Shashaa Tirupati
Lyrics: Madhan Karky

In Enthiran, we saw the Robot romancing a human. But how interesting is the concept of a romance between two robots? Bringing this to the screen is one thing, but penning and composing a song for this is super intriguing. Madan Karky and AR Rahman team up to present a product which is high on quality.

Of course, the techno aspect is very high to give the robotic effect and it works like a charm for a track like this. There's a certain texture in Sid Sriram's voice, which is already quite appealing. Add a dose AR Rahman's expertise in processing voices and voila! it fits this song like there can be nothing better. Saasha Tirupati's rendition is also praise-worthy. She is gifted with a mellifluous voice that could be very charming. A little tinkering to make it sound mechanical, and we have another amazing addition to this track.
 

The song has been programmed in such a way that it sounds romantic, robotic, and pumps you up. If heard using bass boosted headphones, the experience is one of a kind. The experimentation in using various tones in this track is very impressive. Madan Karky has once again proved his prowess in writing contemporary and quirky lyrics.

Raajali
Vocals: Blaaze, Arjun Chandy, Sid Sriram
Lyrics: Madhan Karky
 

Do we have a surprise character in this film? Raajali seems to talk about it. 3.0 is the name! Once again, Madan Karky sets the trend of writing rhymes that are exciting to hear. There's a child-like energy in this track and that is set up by Madan Karky's words. The rest is left to ARR for exploration.

Raajali is a very powerful track in which we can distinctly hear the percussions establishing a base for the rest of the song to ride on. Again, the bass guitar's importance is very high, and it complements all the tones used in this track to intensify it. The gang of vocalists includes Arjun Chandy, Sid Sriram, and Blaaze. This is completely a massy track that is based out of rap. With the grandeur of the visuals, this one is surely going to shake the screen.

Pullinangal
Vocals: Bamba Bakya, AR Ameen, Suzanne D'Mello
Lyrics: Na Muthukumar

Pullinangaal sounds more like a poem adapted into a song. And here, we remember the immensely talented late Na Muthukumar. Without his words, Pullinangaal wouldn't be as good. There's a very intimate conversation that happens between the human and the birds and it is brought to life with his words.

Getting into the musicality, AR Rahman sets up a serene world with this song. The tranquility is very endearing. Adding to that is Suzanne D'Mello's voice that forms the backing vocals and comes off as the guiding force of the song. Bamba Bakya's voice sounds like an earthy version of singer Mano and his rendition is almost flawless. Ameen joins mid-song for a cute verse and he aces it.
 

The string section flows through this stream and holds the track right up when coupled with the female harmony. On the whole, Pullinangaal could walk straight through to the heart of the listener.