- Date of Release: 01 August 2025
- Genre: Comedy
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Son of Sardaar 2
Introduction
The degree of headaches in the new Hindi film Son Of Sardaar 2 is consistent but varied, both at the same time. And by that I literally mean that the mininum threshold on the headache meter is already high, but the bar is never lowered. In fact with every passing scene, the bar is only raised to a point that I saw my poor little brain cells rot in 150 minutes of hell. And what do I even say when the film begins with a dance number to kickstart a narrative that is a dream sequence, wherein the camera dances more than the protagonist, while having no real relevance to the broader narrative of the film. It literally felt like a discarded script from the Punjabi Film Industry who has been thriving on these brain-rot comedies for a while now. Seldom have I felt so helpless in a comedy film that felt like a partial paralytic stroke on my facial muscles that refused to twitch even once throughout the course of the film. It almost felt like a meta-scene involving the character of Ajay Devgn telling me – ‘Kadhi Has Bhi Liya Karo’, if as I sat there like a zombie just like one of the background dancers in a song that was shot in the graveyard (I ain’t even kidding, seeing is believing).
Story & Screenplay
If I had it my way, this section would be left blank for my review page – because there is no story or screenplay in Son Of Sardar 2. But given that this is an occupational hazard of my profession here we go – Jassi (Ajay Devgn) dreams of going to London after aspiring for a visa in order to spend time with his wife again. An extended dream sequence tells us that the long distance marriage has been going along for a while now, even as Jassi gets his visa in the immediate next reel of the film – no long distance wait for this torture to begin. Once in London, Jassi gets to know that his wife has moved on and is now dating a mute NRI- foreigner (mute because he just smiles while there is no tension in the air despite his girlfriend’s husband entering the arena). It is lame moments like these that get Son Of Sardaar 2 to the best start possible – only because it gets much worse (and loud) from this point.
Interestingly, the acronym of Son Of Sardaar 2 is SOS 2 – yes, SOS 1 was almost sent 13 years ago by the viewers, but the freshly generated morse code is now a sequel to the morse code of 2012 – but when decoded are pleas for help. This is because you are introduced to an unfunny Pakistani-Punjabi dance-trope-family comprising of Rabia (Mrunal Thakur), Mehwish (Kubbra Sait), Gul (Deepak Dobriyal) and Saba (Roshni Walia), who are dealing with a crisis of their own – Rabia’s husband Danish (Chunky Panday; Ma Ma Mia, I Am NOT Jokingggg) has runaway leaving the family high and dry. If that wasn’t enough, Saba is dating Gogi (Sahil Mehta) from an orthodox Indian-Punjabi family that is snorting on jingoism, who would never agree to marry their son to a ‘Paki’ (because you know……..scratch that, no reason is given).
So when Jassi and Rabia’s world collide – both having suffered a heartbreak from their respective spouses – the best way for them to find love (in the form of Pehla Tu, Duja Tu, Teeja Tu, Chautha Tu) is when Jassie agree’s to be the patriotic ‘Dad’ of Saba, while interacting with the family patriarch of the family Raja (Ravi Kishan; justified as a Sardar given how his Sardar father married his Bihari mother, WTF? ), and his two doubt-driven brothers Tittu (Vindu Dara Singh) and Tony (Late Mukul Dev), along with their high on poppy-seed father Ranjit Singh (Sharat Saxena).
To be fair, the faint element of laughter arrived at two (oh, actually three) instances – when Jassi narrates the script of Border citing it as his own ‘war’ story to an awed Raja, almost being a meta-commentary on most Hindi remakes that are imported from the South (no sir, it is an adaptation, sir). The second instance is in a scene when there is a meta-commentary on dance packaged in the monologue of an actor who isn’t known for dancing, but instead has been sleepwalking through his dance numbers for a while now. Genuinely funny, I tell you….no kidding. The third remained an unsolicited tribute to the Final Destination franchise wherein an elderly pole dancer gives the best tribute to the franchise by falling and folding to her death. It was the chef’s kiss, I tell you!
Outside these instances, what you get is a cat and mouse game that is played out between the two parties, in what was designed to be a Priyadarshan mad-caper comedy, but instead forms a tribute to the unfunny Housefull franchise (the downfall of which wad started from its third part). Well, SOS 2 betters that strike rate in only the second film of the franchise, so which is a better franchise now? From repeated poppy-seed curated tea, to a mysterious henchman and his two sidekicks landing up at crucial junctures in the narrative, just like Vasooli Bhai or Pinky from Golmaal (why Sanjay Mishra, why again?), or an assortment of low-brow dance numbers wherein even the background dancers are zombies, I was left scratching my head as to what in the world is going on? There was also a tank-testing audition of Jassi in between that was supposed to be a comedy I think? Or was Jassi in his Singham avatar by the end of that sequence? I don’t know, my brain refused to function.
Amidst all the chaotic hoopla, the underlying message of unity between the two countries and their people was a progressive step. But I am unsure on how progressive the drama thought it actually was – because the wedding sequence climax kept oscillating between a comedy and an emotional drama – while actually being devoid of both. In a scene when a chandelier falls on a character, I burst out laughing anticipating that the sequence is another Final Destination tribute in the film. But when sad violins played out, I was perplexed – was this not a comedy? Actually, I then realised that the entire film was a tragedy – for the viewers that seemed never ending, just like my review! The screenplay was…..you get the hint, non-existential!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues represent that one stand-up comic that continues to perform his set piece thinking that it is funny, while actually bombing through and through. It is unfunny even when the situation threatens to be funny! The music is decent but in a film like this, it is almost a given that songs will appear out of nowhere, just like a Hitchcockian twist in an Alfred Hitchcock film. The BGM is often manipulative, preparing you for a joke even before the joke arrives. But when there ought to have been a joke, the sad violins try and manipulate you into believing that it is a tragedy on steroids. The cinematography comprises of frames with colour grading that directly felt like a Rohit Shetty film (ahhh, that explains the cameo). There isn’t a thought to it whatsoever, just a basic turn up of the camera capturing the chaos. The editing is abrupt, almost being cut like a reel with the most random sequences injected at the most random instances to produce the most random moments. Director Vijay Kumar Arora directs the film like a Punjabi film, and not in a good way. The pitch is high, the laughs are non-existent and the characterizations are one-dimensional. If the humour does get into a problematic territory featuring a character trying to seduce another in exchange for a task, then this is straight up objectification (although not as high as Housefull 5 if that is any consolation). The direction is poor and let alone the logic (wasn’t seeking for it also), where are the laughs? Are you comedy me? (😝).
Performances
The performances are pretty average here by the members of the cast. Dolly Ahluwalia as Jassi’s mother is perhaps one of the few actors that shows restraint and a lot of emotions. Sanjay Mishra as Bantu, Ashwini Kalsekar as Premlata and Sharat Saxena as Ranjit Singh are talented actors that don’t quite land here with their comedy traits. Sahil Mehta as Gogi and Roshni Walia as Saba start off well but are later woefully sidelined. Kubbra Sait as Mehwish, Neeru Bajwa as Dimple and Chunky Panday as Danish are hardly there, often seen in glimpses or just a part of the crowd. Vindu Dara Singh as Tittu and Mukul Dev as Tony are decent wherein they atleast try to make things work.
Deepak Dobriyal as Gul is a transgender character that isn’t given a backstory to demand empathy. His understated approach is refreshing but after a point, it is buried in the chaos of the drama. Ravi Kishan as Raja misses the comic trait of his character due to his high pitch that blurs the laughter more often than not. He is still good in a couple of emotional scenes at the end but largely his performance didn’t always hit the right notes. Mrunal Thakur as Rabia looks beautiful but her dialogue delivery isn’t designed for a comedy that often relies on timing. If enunciating words misses the timing, the laughter will be missing too. Ajay Devgn as Jassi marks another character that he sleepwalks through it. Like Ravi Kishan, even his character suffers from a very high pitch that blurs the comedy and the situation. The Ajay Devgn of Golmaal was needed in terms of the pitch of the character, that genuinely evoked laughter back in the day.
Conclusion
Son Of Sardaar 2 is an assortment of headaches in a Final Destination drama for the brain cells that makes for an awful watch. In a way, this drama is a ‘Sardard’ for the ages! Available in a theatre near you.
