The strong suit of the 2024 Malayalam hit film Vaazha was the relatability it created. A big chunk of that movie was on the humor side, where we would see our heroes messing up their lives with all those stupid life choices. But towards the end of that movie, the film empathized with those characters and spoke on their behalf, addressing many things, including flawed parenting that we often overlook. In my opinion, that right balance was what made that seemingly simple film a huge hit. Vipin Das, who had written and co-produced that movie, returns with a sequel with a new director, Savin SA, and once again he applies the same formula. However, because of a newer setting that addresses issues that feel a bit more contemporary, the formula doesn’t bother you, and what you get is an entertaining film that uses the language of its target audience to preach.
Hashir, Alan, Ajin, and Vinayak are the main bros of this part of the franchise. While Hashir and Alan were neighbours, they became friends with Ajin and Vinayak during the course of their school adventures. As you can imagine, none of them were that talented or studious, and they were troublemakers in their school. What we see here is the student life of these folks, where they had to deal with humiliation and heartbreak.
As I said, the format of the movie is pretty simple, and it is somewhat a repetition of the first movie. Instead of the police character played by Basil Joseph, we have a different police officer character played by Alphonse Puthren, who is also standing with the boys when they are in trouble. And we are seeing a different version of the adolescent days tantrums in this movie as well. While the first one broadly addressed the problems faced by boys, be it the pressure on the front bencher, the judgements on the last bencher, and the cluelessness of the middle bencher, this one is slightly more specific. For instance, one of the major developments that happens in the second half has to do with the ongoing trend of youths going to places like the UK, thinking everything is bright and hopeful on the other side.
Humor is the core of this franchise, and it is through humor that Vipin Das wants to convey the messaging. The portions in Kerala are mostly drenched in the witty dialogues of the characters. But in order to get some drama, the movie takes the characters to places like the UK. But rather than making it a Gen Z Aadu Jeevitham, Vipin Das is making sure that the humor DNA is not ignored in those portions. The “6th Mile” moment is a humor they have cracked in a situation that actually talks about a dark reality of students in other countries. Even though it is ultimately asking the new generation to stay away from things that give them immediate pleasures, it is not saying that in a patronizing tone. From lack of parental support, unavailability of opportunities to socialize, like playgrounds, Vipin Das is asking the blamers whether they did anything productive, and in my opinion, this is what makes us connect with Vaazha movies beyond its verbal humor.
Savin SA, who has directed this movie, manages to crack the pacing impressively through the edit pattern. Kannan Mohan, who has edited the movie, is bringing a lot of tidiness to the narrative. There are these insert shots of the school toilet in the school meeting scene featuring names like Alphonse Puthren and Vijay Babu, which logically don’t fit but blend nicely with the energetic rhythm of the movie. I think some of the editing patterns set on a writing level are also helping the film to progress at a certain pace. The cinematography follows the emotional state of the characters to set the style. The younger portions in Kerala have a very dynamic style that reflects the energy. However, when it comes to the phase where the characters realize the truth of their lives during their stint abroad, the visual language is mostly calmer. There are almost 10 songs in the whole movie, and almost all of them are used to narrate the story effectively. The best example would be the use of the Makane song towards the end, which I felt got the backdrop of a situation that was more emotional than the first one.
Content creators turning stars is becoming a tricky thing at the box office, largely because we have pretty much seen the stuff of these people through their online content. So when filmmakers cast these people and make them do what they have already done, it becomes a practice of utilizing their following for tickets rather than using them for their acting capabilities. When you look at Vaazha 2, the main cast, Hashir, Alan, Ajin, and Vinayak, are all playing characters that have their real-life names. And if you look at the design of those characters, it is very similar to the ones we have seen them do. But beyond the humor, when the movie reaches those areas that depict the vulnerabilities of these characters, these reel stars are getting challenged, and all of them were surprisingly good in delivering great performances in those portions, especially Vinayak, who wasn’t that active till that point. Hashir and Alan score in the humor bits, especially in the school days portion. Ajin’s moment was in the Dubai chapter.
Alphonse Puthren, with that Aluva dialect, was really effective as the police officer. Bijukuttan, as the father of Vinayak, gets a really memorable character. Devaraj of Eureka stories got to do a character that gave him enough space to perform. Vijay Babu, Aju Varghese, and many actors we have seen in movies directed or produced by Vipin Das have played small yet memorable characters in the film, along with a bunch of content creators. The gang of Ameen is there playing roles similar to what we have seen Hashir and team do in the first Vaazha film.
There were two instances in the movie towards the end where Vipin Das sort of gave a different interpretation to a visual or dialogue that we are used to. One was that classic video that reappears in our feed every Vishu, of a man falling after setting a firecracker. The next one was a breakup scene, and what we conventionally attribute to women is being said by a man as part of a realization. Rather than justifying toxicity, the movie is embracing someone’s self-realization, and rather than using a meme for the same purpose, Vaazha 2 tries to look at the central character of that meme in an empathetic way. Somewhere, I feel the reason why this movie stays with you beyond the situational humor through mumbled dialogues is the placement of these moments that crack the feel factor.
