Devi 2 review - With nearly no horror and only ‘attempted comedy’, Devi 2 is just another flick that you might not regret missing!

Akash

Adding to the long list of sequels is director Vijay’s next venture, the horror comedy flick Devi 2. Retaining the lead actors Prabhu Deva and Tamannaah and with the entire film set in Mauritius, has director Vijay given us enough thrills and laughs? Read the next few paragraphs to find out what Devi 2 has on offer.

Prabhu Deva (Krishna) and his wife Tamannaah (Devi), head to Mauritius to make sure Ruby, the ghost from part 1 does not haunt them ever again. But what we have in store is Devi +2. In fact, the very title card reads Devi +2 and the reason is because we have two ghosts namely Alex and Ranga Reddy in place of Ruby. The director has cast Kovai Sarala in an elaborate but usual comedy role that seems least effective and for the supporting actors we have a long list that includes Nandita Swetha, Ajmal, Dimple Hayathi, RJ Balaji and a cameo by Sonu Sood.

From the moment Devi 2 starts off, the humour quotient does not tick off as expected. Most of the one-liners don’t work and this is a major issue as the film banks on comedy. There is barely any space for thrills or chills and the entire treatment is based on humour. However, Prabhu Deva shaking a leg for a dance number provides the usual relief factor. With such horror comedies, we cannot expect much from the logic department. However, there are very absurd scenes where a ghost turns an entire flight back to where it started from. The very same ghost requires the soul of a poor human played by Prabhu Deva to say ‘I Love You’ to his love interest? These sort of inconsistencies do exist throughout in Devi 2.

Tamannaah tries hard to keep the show going and she has not done a bad job with her acting. Prabhu Deva too, has tried to show us subtle variations between Krishna, Alex and Ranga Reddy. Nandita Swetha looks pretty and walks around most part of the film rejecting Prabhu Deva’s proposal and apart from that she has just a couple of scenes to score. Ajmal is seen here and there and can be termed to play a brief negative role. In such a commercial outing, we don’t get to see impactful performances as the entire film takes the shallow route. But the problem arises only when the film is low on entertainment and that is just the case with Devi 2.

The first half seems very long and this is because the director Vijay takes a lot of time to cut to the chase. There are a lot of attempts at trying to entertain us and it is safe to say most of them do not hit the chord right. A few scenes that were interesting are the entry of Alex and Ranga Reddy into Prabhu Deva’s body and the interval block which has Tamannaah and Kovai Sarala floating in mid air trying to sign a deal with the ghost. Though these are not scary, they have an unusually unique treatment and this might keep us interested for a short while. Who even signs a contract with a couple of ghosts?

As for the technicalities, cinematography by Ayananka Bose is decent but the music by Sam CS could have been a lot better. Background score has nothing solid and the Sokkura Penne track is the only hummable song in the entire film. Chal Maar had worked wonders for Devi 1 but this ‘hit dance number’ element is also missing in Devi 2. Edit by Anthony has saved a few scenes from being slower. Towards the end, the film gets very predictable and the screenplay could have been more engaging considering the fact that there are not many high points on offer before that. The lack of a serous layer in this humour based romance- horror is a big issue as there is no glue that holds together all the commercial elements. Sonu Sood has been brought back just to give a connect between Devi 1 and 2. The bring back factor also falls flat and we are left with a lull climax fight and chase.

On the whole, Devi 2 has 2 ghosts which is probably the only saving grace of the film. RJ Balaji enters, tries to save the day and exits abruptly. Kovai Sarala seems to have tried hard too and so does director Vijay and team. If this horror comedy had a serious track backed by better sequences, effective sentiment and unpredictable scenes like in Devi 1, we might have witnessed a more interesting horror comedy. Nevertheless, Prabhu Deva and Tamannaah’s Devi 2 is just about bearable for those who do not mind a no-brainer.

Bottomline

Sans the idea of having 2 ghosts in Devi 2, there is nothing fresh about this typical horror comedy!

Rating: 2.25/5