Saamy Square - A sequel that could hurt fans of the first instalment!

Bharath Vijayakumar

'90s kids' is the recurrent theme in social media these days. For the audience belonging to this particular demographic, Saamy (2003) should be nostalgic in many ways. With that movie, Vikram actually raced past his peers on the race to superstardom. Well, a lot of things have changed in these 15 years.

The trailer of Saamy Square was not promising but nothing can prepare us for what this film has to offer. Loudness is a given in Hari's films but this wasn't always the case with the man. Think of it and Saamy was not a loud film. The decibel level is also one factor that is a clear demarcation between the two cops: Saamy and Singam. The storyline of Saamy 2 resumes from the first instalment but the making not so much. The latter in facts makes this look like a product of the Singam franchise.

The central conceit of Saamy Square definitely has enough meat to cook a spicy masala. But these days Hari the chef seems to be content with merely getting all the ingredients together. The quality and the proportions have gone for a toss. This is a film that needs an emotional connect because this is not a film about a cop on a mission. This is a revenge saga. But the emotions hardly work. It is only Bobby Simha( surprisingly so) who actually looks to be interested with the proceedings. He too in all honesty does ham it up for the most part but the others are merely going through the motions. Vikram himself is a pale shadow of his own best. It is also painful to see two competent heroines doing the stuff they do in this film.

But any issue you might have with the film comes nowhere close to the sheer torture that comes up in the name of comedy. Not sure what makes it so difficult for our mass heroes to take 150 minutes to destroy the villain. Just make the bad guy sit through the comedy track of this film and the job is done.

Hari should realize that his best films had powerful villains. Villains who gave the audience a sense that they are dangerous. Of late, his villains are weak men who keep shouting and killing. But the sense of fear is nil. The masala movie trope is to have the hero on the back foot for the most part and then have him giving it back. Where is the fun in a one-sided affair.

Bottomline:

Saamy Square is everything you feared it to be from its trailer. The only silver lining is that the film reminds you that making a good masala film is not a joke and further increases the respect for Saamy(2003).

Rating: 2/5