Gadar 2 Movie Review
Many years have passed since Tara Singh rescued his wife Sakina (Amisha Patel) from Pakistan. He’s living peacefully with her and their son Charanjeet "Jeete" Singh (Utkarsh Sharma), who has become a strapping young man now. There is war in the air and Lieutenant Colonel Devendra Rawat (Gaurav Chopra) asks Tara Singh for his help. Our jawans at the border urgently need supplies and Tara, along with a fleet of trucks, rush to the designated area, only to get ambushed by the enemy. Tara Singh is said to be captured by Major General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa), who is out for Tara’s blood as Tara had killed members of his battalion when he had first escaped from Pakistan. Jeete takes it upon himself to rescue his father but in a twist of fate, himself gets caught. Now it’s up to Tara to come up with another rescue mission and get his son back to India.
While the earlier film was all about the romance between Tara and Sakina, this film showcases the bond between father and son. Jeete is shown to be a chip of the old block and takes his father’s mantle forward. Director Anil Sharma has sort of relaunched his son Utkarsh with this film. He’s shown to be a complete package here, romancing a pretty girl Muskaan (Simrat Kaur) and sharing some lighthearted moments with his father and mother in the first half, before turning into an action figure and going on rampage against the Pakistanis, just like his father. Utkarsh didn't let this chance go to waste and made the most of the proceedings.
There’s no denying that Sunny Deol packs a humongous screen presence, even at the age of 66. He can still breathe fire and make the audience go wild with joy every time he bashes up the enemy. Director Sharma has played to his strengths and made sure he has filled his portions with crowd-pleasing scenes. Sunny looks like someone who can defeat a whole army singlehandedly and that’s the USP of the film. He’s really the reason the audience has taken to the film in such a big way. Ameesha Patel doesn’t have much to do and is competent in her emotional scenes.
Given the current situation, it was expected that Gadar 2, carrying a strong patriotic flavour, would be well-liked by the audience. It’s to director Anil Sharma’s credit that he has kept the jingoism to the minimum, concentrating on the family bond instead to take the story forward. The film floats on its huge nostalgia value and the aura of its star, Sunny Deol, who has once again proved the adage that a lion never gets old.
Trailer : Gadar 2
Renuka Vyavahare, August 11, 2023, 6:01 PM IST
Story: Decades after he rescued his wife Sakeena (Ameesha Patel) from Pakistan, one man army-truck driver Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) must illegally cross the border once again to save his son (Utkarsh Sharma) from the wrath of Pak General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa). The latter holds a grudge against Tara for what he did in 1947.
Review: 22 years after Gadar: Ek Prem Katha caused a tsunami at the box office, Anil Sharma comes up with a sequel that tries to recreate the chest-thumping patriotism and familial love in times of war. It even makes a strong case for secularism. “Hindustan Musalmanon ka hai, Christians ka hai, Sikhon ka hai, Hindustaniyon ka hai.”
What the film lacks is a solid premise. The sentiment stemming from loss of lives and brutal aftermath of the partition moved the audiences in the first film. The cross border love story and a tale of survival tugged at your heartstrings as it had a solid emotional core despite the provocative dialogues. The sequel struggles to leave you emotionally charged. Gadar 2 tries to cash in on the nostalgia factor, filmy dialoguebaazi and slowmo action scenes, without a story or purpose that can hold it all together.
Sakeena’s father Ashraf Ali (Amrish Puri) is no more. Tara Singh finds a new nemesis in Hamid Iqbal, a Pakistani Army General, who ruthlessly beheads people for showing their loyalty for the Bhagavad Gita over Quran. A war is looming (1971), given India’s involvement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and Iqbal seeks revenge for this situation and the past. He captures and tortures Tara’s son in Pak, who crosses the border in search of his father. This compels Tara to repeat what he did ages ago, this time around for his son. The son’s love track in Pakistan with Muskaan (Simrat Kaur) feels absolutely irrelevant and unnecessary. The sequel comes across like an overstretched remake with a meandering plot that goes on for over 2 hours and 45 minutes.
The film’s redeeming factor is its music and Sunny Deol. Sung by Udit Narayan once again, Mithoon’s reprised version of Uttam Singh’s beautiful composition ‘Udd jaa Kaale Kaava’ is the film’s highlight. It conjures more emotions and nostalgia than the entire film put together.
Sunny Deol is endearing and sincere. His powerful presence and heavy duty dialogues continue to have an impact. Tara wants his son Charanjeet (Utkarsh Sharma) to be educated so that he doesn’t end up as a truck driver, too. His concern for his child and love feels real. And of course for fans of the previous film, there is the iconic hand pump scene in this film too.
Ameesha Patel doesn’t have much to do except for tearfully waiting for the men in her life to come back home. Utkarsh Sharma gets some crucial scenes and while he’s pleasant, he lacks the screen presence required for this action drama.
It’s not that Gadar 2 is badly made, it’s just full of characters that don’t have the depth to stir the desired emotion in you or hold your attention for too long. For Sunny Deol fans, the actor does bring back his star power and that quintessential roar that’s hard to miss in the film.
