Film: Victory 2
Director: Hari Santhosh
Cast: Sharan, Ravi Shankar, Sadhu Kokila, Tabla Nani, Asmita Sood and Apoorva
Just like he garnered the attention with 2013 film Victory, comedian-turned-actor Sharan, in his sequel, does the same. Clearly, the actor has struck the right chords with Victory 2, the strength of which is its story and performance.
Director Hari Santhosh has evidently studied the script well, run it in his head several times, which results in good team work, performances, humour, romance and action in the right ounces. All of this makes Hari a smart director.
Although one expected a dual role from Sharan, the makers seem to have felt, ‘more of Sharan, the merrier’. Coming in different avatars, the sequel takes off from the point Priya (Asmita Sood) had a tiff with Chandru (Sharan) just after getting married, and leaves to her father’s house even before they enjoy the bliss of the first night. Chandru goes all the way to garner the faith of his wife, which impresses Priya. She comes back to live with her husband. A call from a stranger disturbs their first night and Chandru goes out looking for him.
On the other end, there is Munna and his friend known as Moms (Ravi Shankar), who is just out of jail. The thieves are figuring out their next target. Both get into a bungalow where the resident are looking for Iyengar cooks. The two disguise themselves as women and land the job. Munna is in love with Nandhini (Apoorva) who is a doctor, but is not in a position to express it because of an identity crisis.
Chandru and Munna accidentally meet a don Dawood Hussain (Nassar), who takes advantage of Chandru’s resemblance to his son, Saleem (Sharan) who is in jail. The roller-coaster ride begins when Chandru lands in the jail while Saleem is set free. How Munna seeks help of Sadhu Gowda (Sadhu Kokila) to get his brother (Chandru) out from jail, and the reaction of Saleem when he gets to know that Chandru and Munna are his brothers, makes for interesting narrative. The story further builds up when Richie comes into the picture. How the four brothers are separated and their flash back is the crux of the film, with a hilarious climax.
While Hari has managed to bring forth writer Tharun Sudhir’s story, the toughest job for the director was roping in one actor in multiple situations and in different shades. The only drawback is in the second half when the film goes into the flash back mode.
While Sharan’s physical transformation to get into a woman needs to be applauded, his effort of getting into four characters is commendable. Ravi Shankar, known for his villainous characters, is outstanding as a comedian. Wish he had more screen space. Joining them is Sadhu Kokila, who adds his dose of humour. The comic timing of the trio clicks well. Nassar as the villain is mediocre, on the other hand, both Asmita Sood and Apoorva get reasonable screen space. Not only do they connect to the story, the also bring in the glam quotient. Tabla Nani, Kalyani, Aruna Balraj along with others provide good support.
Victory sequel has humourous lines written by Rajshekar. Arjun Janya’s hit number Khali Quarter in Victory shows his consistency in the sequel as he has put out some peppy numbers, especially Naan Manege hogodilla written by Yogaraj Bhat, which is topping the charts. The cinematography by Guru Prashanth Rai gives a colourful picture to the romcom.
Victory has Sharan’s trademark, Ravi’s versatility and Sadhu’s humour, along with a host of actors and that makes the film watchable for everybody. If you don’t go looking for logic, you are sure to enjoy this laugh-riot.
P.S: The film skips Chandru and Priya’s first night, and does not disclose the identity of Nani’s wife, thus leaving a clue for the third installment.