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P. Vasu’s 2023 film, “Chandramukhi 2,” may sound like a sequel to his 2005 hit, “Chandramukhi,” which featured superstar Rajinikanth. With the proliferation of OTT platforms, viewers have been exposed to numerous iterations of this tale, including the un-funny “Bhool Bhulaiyya 2” in 2022, so “Chandramukhi 2” ends up being painfully monotonous.
“Chandramukhi 2” follows a wealthy family who are afflicted with several problems, so they are advised to pray to their clan’s deity with all members in attendance, so the family is forced to reconnect with estranged relatives, but this reunion also leads to supernatural consequences. Led by their matriarch Ranganayaki (Raadhika Saratkumar), the family rents the Vettaiyapuram Palace to perform their puja, and that’s where they accidentally re-awaken the spirit of Chandramukhi (Kangana Ranatu), who seeks vengeance from Vettaiyan Raja (Raghava Lawrence). We have the same ‘beautiful dancer seeks revenge on the powerful man who killed her beloved’ tale back, with bare minimal changes. Even the cinematography isn’t very impressive, the special effects are sub-par, they make things look completely unreal. Most games these days have better graphics and it feels like you are watching a film that came out a bunch of years ago. For instance, there’s a black panther in the story, which looks so fake, it’s almost hilarious.
Despite the buzz around Kangana Ranaut’s gorgeous look as Chandramukhi, she doesn’t even appear in the film until half the movie is over. For someone with a titular role, her part was disappointingly small, even though a larger part might have not made sense in the overall story. But the overall story doesn’t make a lot of sense anyway. Raghava Lawrence plays the dual role of Vettaiyan Raja and also Pandiya, who serves as the caretaker of Ranganayaki’s estranged grandchildren. Given the striking similarity between his role and Rajinikanth‘s character in the first Chandramukhi, it’s difficult to avoid comparing the two actors. Unfortunately, Raghava Lawrence’s performance pales out in comparison to Rajinikanth’s entertaining delivery in the earlier hit.
At 2 hours 23 minutes, “Chandramukhi 2” is boring, barely funny, with unnecessary songs, mediocre choreography and a cast that’s completely wasted on this supposedly horror-comedy-mystery. It’s not scary enough, the jokes mostly fall flat and thanks to the re-hashed plot, there’s close to zero mystery. If you haven’t seen the 1993 Malayalam movie “Manichithrathazhu” starring Mohanlal and Shobana, maybe watch that instead. P. Vasu’s 2005 Chandramukhi was an official remake of the 2004 Kannada film “Apthamitra”, which was actually a remake of “Manichithrathazhu”.
I wouldn’t recommend Chandramukhi 2, but it’s available to stream on Netflix.
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