'Maari 2' review: Dhanush, Sai & comedy win

Dhanush has done it again! The sequel to Maari retains much of its original charm. Maari 2 experiments with humour while including the mass entertainer elements.

Maari continues to rule his town in Chennai with fellow gangster and friend Kalai (Krishna Kulasekaran). He has just escaped the 100th attempt on his life by a desperate opponent who smuggles cocaine. Meanwhile, Anandi (Sai Pallavi) pursues Maari, backed by an ulterior motive closely linked to the villain, played by Tovino Thomas.

The film’s writer-director Balaji Mohan has utilised Sai to her full potential. Her Anandi is energetic and daring — setting up a minefield where everything may go wrong. However, Sai does an excellent job by not overdoing her part, as many of her contemporaries have done in the past in similar roles.

Balaji has made deliberate attempts to change not only the female characters but the entire approach towards women in the movie. Apart from Anandi, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar’s district collector also does not reinforce stereotypes. The comedy scenes, however, may come across as sexist or racist.

The film terribly loses out on Tovino’s Beeja a.k.a Thanathos. It is a failed attempt to build a psychopathological villain. His vendetta against Maari is not convincing at all. Moreover, Tovino’s Tamil needs improvement. His dubbing has a Malayalam touch which only makes it worse.

The entire package, however, overcomes this drawback. The onus is on Dhanush, Sai and the humour which go beyond the hero’s comic sidekicks. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score is reminiscent of the first film.

All the ingredients of a gangster movie — friendship, friend-turned-villain, family ties, the good villain versus bad villain — are part of Maari 2, albeit with very predictable twists.

P.S.: The sunglasses Maari is wearing should have fallen off when Tovino punches him on the face. Must appreciate the selection of the glue!