Writing and directing a thriller with strong characters making for stronger content is something that needs high dedication and ability. Clearly, writer-director Jaspal Singh Sandhu has both. After Vadh in 2022, he comes up with a sequel, Vadh 2, that maintains the theme (Vadh refers to the killing of a demon or anyone evil) of the franchise (which begins with this film!). 

To conceive and create a convincing, riveting and compulsive watch of a thriller with renowned character artistes in the lead also takes oodles of skill. Here is a director whose future career I will watch with great interest.

What’s more, if Sandhu now makes a Vadh 3, and I hope he will, it will be a record for a film series (universe?) as it is made sans known lead actors. What’s more, the names of the protagonists, Shambhunath (Sanjay Mishra) and Manju (Neena Gupta) are kept the same, a la the Golmaal franchise, and that is indeed unique.

Vadh 2’s denouement is so ingeniously twisted and layered that we get to understand the gamut of human foibles, strengths and emotional upheavals. Shambhunath is a cop posted in a Madhya Pradesh jail. At night, Shambhunath, across a wall, has a rendezvous with Manju (Neena Gupta). Manju is in jail, sentenced for 28 years, and has resigned herself to her fate, though her release is now imminent. 

The two are empathetic to each other, as Shambhunath is paying off the loan he took for his son’s foreign education, who has broken contact with his father after going abroad and settling there, except for informing him that he is married and has a daughter. Shambhunath therefore supplements his meager salary by stealing vegetables from the prison stock and selling them.

The jail has another inmate, the vicious Keshav (Aksshay Dogra), who has some hold on the warden, Rajani (Shilpa Shukla) as well as other cops and the prison chief, being related to a powerful politician. Keshav even wants Rajani to bring the new inmate, Naina (Yogita Bihani), to him for a night!

When a new incorruptible but caste-conscious chief, Prakash Singh (Kumud Mishra) comes in, trouble brews between Keshav and him. Frustrated and drunk, Prakash beats Keshav mercilessly at night. The next morning, from a locked cell, Keshav disappears. An enquiry is set up.

Enter inspector Ateet (Amitt K. Singh), who is determined to get to the bottom of what happened that fateful night. As he doughtily unravels the threads, a grim saga surfaces.

Technically upscale but not lavish, the film pays more attention to content rather than less important aspects, like needless gloss. The film emerges as a gritty piece of cinema, lifelike, mirroring society and presenting its luminous and dark side all at once. The clues are there throughout, but the piece-de-resistance is the final solution, which comes afterwhat we think is the explanation for Keshav’s annihilation (now, that’s no spoiler when we consider the movie title!).

Neena Gupta is fabulous, her body language, vocal and facial nuances matchless in their perfection. Sanjay Mishra is magnificent again, the chameleonic actor in him in top fettle. Kumud Mishra gets his role pitch-perfect as the angry cop. Amitt K. Singh is great as Ateet and Aksshay Dogra makes you feel repulsed—a triumph for such a young actor. Shilpa Shukla as the warden and the rest are quite good, while Nadeem Khan, as constable Sitaram standing out after his remarkable cameo in Dhurandhar.

Advait Nemlekar is the behind-the-scenes hero here: his background score is fantastic and lifts the film, underscoring again the role of this often-underestimated department of cinema.

Rating: ****

Luv Films’ Vadh 2 Produced by: Luv Ranjan & Ankur Garg Directed by: Jaspal Singh Sandhu Written by: Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Neha Shitole & Rahul Sain Music: Rochak Kohli Starring: Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Amitt K. Singh, Aksshay Dogra, Shilpa Shukla, Yogita Bihani, Nadeem Khan, Nidhi Dewan & others

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