To "Horrible" Nagar...

This was perhaps the most awaited sequel in the history of Malayalam Cinema and definitely the most disappointing one! Every Malayalee cine goer is a mad fan of the original and thats when it hurts when you watch such a shabbily put together, disjointed, irritating sequel which takes the audience for granted!

The foursome who were awesome in the original are irksome here. Jagadeesh irritates, Ashokan is disinterested, Mukesh is jarring, Siddique is the only saving grace! Lakshmi Sharma looks confused and leaves us confused with her performance- you fail to make out whether she is positive or negative. The actor who plays the villain needs some serious lessons on acting. Salim Kumar appears out of nowhere and keeps moving in and out of frames for reasons best known to the makers of this film! Appahaja appears on screen after a long hiatus- thats it. The ladies- Rohini, Reena Basheer, Lena and Rakhee- have hardly anything to do. It is disappointing to watch a talented actor like Rohini playing such an insignificant role.

Alex Paul remixes S Balakrishnan's original tunes and the results are ho- hum. "Unnam Marannu" falls flat on its face while "Ekantha Chandrikae" holds its fort. The "Thomaskutty Vittoda" song that appears during the end credits (the only original composition in the movie) fails to attract and its tacky sets and unimaginative choreography makes it sound and appear worse (Not everyone can make an Om Shanti Om). Venu's cinematography is ho- hum. Editing, Sound and Art are mediocre.

Lal, who is creditted with the story, script, dialogues and direction, deserves a tight slap across his face. The second half of the film is a test to one's patience and the climax is such a spoiler that you keep wondering why this film was made in the first place. The kind of money that "2 Harihar Nagar" has earned at the box office will definitely send shock alarms across fans of Malayalam Cinema. This success proves 2 points- Malayalees would accept anything that does not star the superstars and it is not necessary that the movie needs to be even mediocre; and the level of appreciation of the Malayalee audience has hit rock bottom- films of Padmarajan, Bharathan, Mohan and the like will remain distant memories and there is no hope left for lovers of Malayalam Cinema!

2 Harihar Nagar is only for those who are as dim- witted as the character that Jagadeesh plays. Decide for yourself whether you are dumb or not!