Heropanti 2 Review: A Terrible Sequel!

On the topic of Heropanti 2, one of the main reasons behind massy South films’ tremendous success in the Hindi market is Bollywood’s masala films being too bad. It’s been five years since we’ve seen a decent flick in the action-masala genre – the last being Tiger Zinda Hai. Rajamouli’s larger-than-life vision has left such a huge impact on the audience that they are not ready to watch any mediocre masala film with cheap materialism.

Related: Must-Watch Indian LGBTQ Movies on OTT
Related: Best Hindi Crime Thriller Movies on Hotstar

Tiger Shroff debuted in style with Heropanti (2014), which itself was a remake of Allu Arjun’s Parugu, but the film established him as a young action star in Bollywood. With Baaghi, Baaghi 2, and War, he cemented the position, but then Baaghi 3 happened. Now Heropanti 2 adds more fuel to those burning expectations. A sequel eight years after the first movie, and moreover, completely unwanted.

Heropanti 2 tells a convoluted story, unlike it’s predecessor. It begins with Babloo (Tiger Shroff), a hacker and a fighter, who is living an secluded life away from enemies. And as expected, his enemies unite to take him down until Babloo flexes all his muscles to round-house kick everyone. One of those antagonists feature Laila (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a magician-cum-gangster whose sister Inaaya (Tara Sutaria) plays the love interest of our protagonist.

Heropanti 2 is not a film to showcase your acting chops, and most of the commercial films aren’t, and our protagonist Tiger Shroff is on a heroic high combating baddies as usual. His counterpart, Tara Sutaria, who debuted opposite Tiger in 2019s Student of the Year 2, looks gorgeous in every scene, whether it’s casual, fashionable, or extremely glamourous looks with high sex appeal. But let’s not talk about her acting. Let’s skip that part. Subsequently, Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the villain, and it is just sad seeing him wasted in a role that doesn’t fit.

Moving on, this movie presents itself as a high-octane action entertainer and works at a few occasions, however, it’s unbearable for the most part. The dialogues are cheap, the screenplay tests your patience, and the age old commercial formula never takes off. Also, A. R. Rahman’s (who I guess is tangled in some contractual obligation to do this film) music was decent at times, which was surprising as we expect nothing but the best from the Mozart of Madras.

Director Ahmed Khan seemed clueless in this movie. I personally couldn’t see a universe where Heropanti 2 would’ve worked in terms of an entertainer, but Khan’s bland direction does nothing to elevate the standards but present it in outdated manners. Many scenes remind you of the 80s masala films, which I think can only work if executed very skillfully. Overall, Heropanti 2 is not even watchable for the hard-core Tiger Shroff fans because they’ve seen and witnessed better films like War. A terrible sequel that noone asked for, and the Heropanti level is definitely down this time.

‘Heropanti 2’ Rating – 1/5