Almost Nothing About ‘Sadak 2’ Is Worth Watching As The Film is a Colossal Bore

Before I even go forward, here’s a disclaimer to everyone out there. Irrespective of all the noise surrounding Sadak 2 and the nepotism debate that continues to rile on, we have treated this film just like any other feature presentation; and our judgment and review is independent of taking any sides.

The sequel to 1991 hit film, Sadak 2 continues the storyline of taxi driver, Ravi Verma (Sanjay Dutt) who is now obviously an old man and just doesn’t seem to be coming to terms with the loss of his wife, Pooja (Pooja Bhatt). Ravi is depressed, suicidal and has hallucinations about Pooja but all that takes a backseat with the entry of Aarya (Alia Bhatt). Encircling around Aarya’s twisted life and making her life worth-living again, Ravi considers this to be his one last mission before he dies and reunites with his wife in heaven.

It is rather unfortunate that nothing, almost nothing about Sadak 2 makes it to even qualify as a ‘one-time-watch.’ Since frame one to the last frame, the film ends up being a colossal bore. Packaged as a romantic mystery thriller, the twists and turns in the film are laughable and, in fact, you will be reminded of the preposterous twists that Race 3 was made fun of. Haphazard storytelling, clichéd dialogues, 90s style film-making and poor writing makes Sadak 2 a film you will probably even dread to finish till the end.

Even in the worst film there are some good things that make the film bearable. Even though it is difficult with Sadak 2, the biggest plus point of the film is the on-screen bonding of Dutt and Bhatt’s character. Their father-daughter-like chemistry is probably the best thing about the film and the actors absolutely nail that emotion. Apart from that, the other plus can be considered to be Dutt’s performance where the tiredness in his eyes and vulnerability of his character is the only character arc that is notable. A special mention to Jisshu Sengupta’s performance as Yogesh Desai in the film too.

The treatment of the film is so mediocre that some characters just randomly change their tones and shades out of nowhere. For example, in a scene where a character has Dutt at gunpoint, Dutt’s character starts singing for no reason which is further stupefied by the opposite character telling the lines ‘ye toh kamaal hai.’ Makarand Deshpande’s portrayal of Gyaan Prakash is caricaturish and abysmal where the original had Sadashiv Amrapurkar’s fine act (another point where that was a fine act but suitable for the 90s and shouldn't have been repeated). It seemed like a treat to see Gulshan Grover on-screen after a long time but alas! he was entirely wasted with nothing to perform.

Aditya Roy Kapur is given a character that actors would to love to have (from the the first half) but the actor doesn’t manage to evoke any emotion inspite of an opportunity. Finally, it is a sad thing to say that the fine actor that Alia Bhatt is, this is probably her weakest performance (including Shaandaar). The actor tries her best to evoke something out of the ludicrous script and lines she is given but even with her caliber she cannot save this sinking ship.

It is not often that a film with an intriguing plot and a fine starcast like this plummets so miserably; but Sadak 2 does. There are barely any redeeming qualities in the film and irrespective of the whole debate and hatred going on around the film for other reasons, it is pitiful that the film doesn’t do any justice to being worth watching.

Rating - *1/2 (1.5/5)