Pichaikkaran 2 review: A decent film but lacks the charm of ‘Pichaikkaran 1’ in Vijay Anthony’s directorial hands

Actor and music director Vijay Antony, who also turns director with Pichaikkaran 2: Anti Bikili, seems to have hoped to create a film with the same charm that director Sasi managed to create with his immensely impactful Pichaikkaran 1 (2016).

Unfortunately, he is nowhere close to what director Sasi achieved and ends up making a film that comes across as being artificial and exaggerated.

While Vijay Antony might have successfully copied the structure and certain concepts used in Pichaikkaran 1 in the film, but he seems to have been unable to breathe life into the second part. 

Here’s the story in a nutshell.

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Synopsis

Vijay Gurumurthy (Vijay Antony) is the seventh richest man in India, with a wealth of over one lakh crore. The exceptionally rich businessman has, in his core team, three individuals who are looking for an opportunity to usurp his wealth. They are Aravind (Dev Gill), Ilango (John Vijay), and Dr Siva (Hareesh Peradi). 

It is under these circumstances that a world-renowned doctor (Kitty) announces a breakthrough in medical science. He announces that he has found a way to successfully transplant the human brain. 

The news delights Aravind and his friends as they quickly hatch a plan to usurp Vijay’s property. 

They plot to kill Vijay and have the brain of someone who obeys their instructions transplanted into him. This way, they believe they will be able to take control of Vijay’s business empire. 

They look for a match and incidentally stumble upon Sathya, a beggar whose blood group and tissues match the rich businessman’s. 

The three conspirators kidnap Sathya and take him to Dubai where they get the doctor to successfully perform the brain transplant. 

Sathya’s brain is transplanted into the business magnet’s body. The operation works and Vijay Gurumurthy now has the mind of a beggar. 

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Plot twist

Just when Aravind and his friends think that they can now control Vijay Gurumurthy’s business empire, they realise that Sathya is not just a beggar, he’s got a much darker past. 

What’s more, Sathya is not someone who is going to be swayed by money. Having languished in poverty all his life, Sathya has plans of eradicating it. 

What are his plans? How are the conspirators going to handle him? Watch Pichaikkaran 2 to get answers to these questions and more.

Comparing with Pichaikkaran 1

To be fair to Vijay Antony, Pichaikkaran 2 is a decent effort at filmmaking. However, it is a pale shade compared to the first part, thanks to the overwhelming success of Pichaikkaran 1.

Pichaikkaran 2 is also distinctly different from Pichaikkaran 1 in some aspects. 

For instance, there are two raunchy songs in Pichaikkaran 2, while the first part had no such headache-inducing numbers. In fact, the songs in the first part of the franchise were all chartbusters and worked to add to the charm of the film. 

Next, Sasi’s story in Pichaikkaran 1 was based on a real-life incident. The truthfulness with which director Sasi managed to narrate that story struck a powerful chord with audiences, making it an instant hit. 

However, the story of Vijay Antony’s Pichaikkaran 2 is a figment of the imagination and is far from reality. As a result, one doesn’t find it engaging enough. 

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Similarities

Pichaikkaran 1’s USP was the wonderful bond between an affectionate mother and a loyal son. Pichaikkaran 2’s USP, if you can call it that, is the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who has been languishing in poverty. 

Both parts have a person with divine influence playing a significant part in altering the lead character’s mindset.

Although Pichaikkaran 2 bears some striking similarities to Pichaikkaran 1, it lacks one distinct factor — its soul. While Pichaikkaran 1’s soul remained intact, Pichaikkaran 2’s soul is hard to find. 

Performances

The film has some neat performances from almost its entire cast. Vijay Antony delivers a credible performance as both Vijay and Sathya. Dev Gill, who impressed in the blockbuster Magadheera (2009), does a fine job as one of the conspirators. 

Hareesh Peradi, John Vijay, and Radha Ravi too play their parts to perfection. Yogi Babu’s comedy works in parts. 

On the technical front, Om Narayan’s visuals are a treat to watch. 

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The verdict

In short, Pichaikkaran 2 is a decent film, but only one that is half as good as Pichaikkaran 1.

(Views expressed are personal.)