Saamy 2

When he decided to make a sequel to Saamy, 2003 film with Vikram, director Hari must have really been in a conundrum. He had already turned his other cop film, Singam (2010), with Suriya, into a franchise that narrates a new case handled by the protagonist, Duraisingam, with every new film. Saamy did end with the line 'Saamiyin vettai thodarum', implying that the hero would continue his hunt for criminals. But how does he turn Saamy, his first major hit, into a franchise without making it feel like a repetition of what he has been doing with Singam. 

And the director decides to do this by doing away with the character! Yes, he kills Aarusaamy (Vikram), the fearless cop who believed in justice than the law, and continues the hunt with another Saamy, Ram Saamy (Vikram), his son. And he makes comparisons between the two characters almost pointless by giving them exactly the same characteristics. "IAS moola IPS vela," remarks Ram in a scene, but trust us, the only difference is the moustache! Still this feels like an interesting approach on paper... Ravana Pichai (Bobby Simha), the son of the first film's villain, Pichai Perumal (Kota Srinivasa Rao), learning that his father has been murdered by Aarusaamy and coming to India from Sri Lanka to take his revenge. He does that by killing the men responsible for his father's fate, including Aarusaamy and his wife Bhuvana (an ill-fitting Aishwarya Rajesh, in place of Trisha). He establishes a money laundering network in India, but 28 years later, crosses the path of Ram Saamy.

What Hari seems to have forgotten is that as much as Vikram's terrific performance, what made Aarusaamy (and in extension Saamy, the film) memorable was the script - a familiar cop vs criminal story with well-written supporting characters, a strong villain, impactful masala movie moments, likeable romantic scenes, foot-tapping songs and enjoyable comedy narrated in a breathless fashion. 

And Aarusaamy himself was refreshing - a cop who was not just brain and brawn, but also emotional. You had sub-plots (involving his father) and characters (the sex worker) to reinforce this. But here, Ram Saamy comes across like a Duraisingam who doesn't scream every word he utters. Even the name lacks the mass factor of the former. 

And we get underwritten characters, a villain who fumes and plots but never acts, unintentionally hilarious mass moments (like the scenes with reference to the president), cringe-worthy romance, patience-testing songs (by Devi Sri Prasad, who takes over from Harris Jayaraj), and comedy (by Soori) that is as fun as nails on chalkboard. The nods to the first film only makes the shortcomings much more obvious. But what is truly unforgivable is that it ruins our memories of the first film. Fortunately, we have Arun Kumar's Sethupathi, a much better film to this one that was a respectful sequel to Saamy in spirit, to make us forget this one.