Heropanti 2 review: Tiger Shroff goes on warpath again but collateral damage includes viewers

Remember that Tiger Shroff movie where he kicks the stuffing out of the bad guys while executing acrobatic stunts and shakes a leg with his lady love in between skirmishes? This, of course, is a trick question as almost every movie in which the actor has starred in the past eight years fits this description. Director Ahmed Khan’s Heropanti 2 is yet another addition to the list.

There is no doubt that even though his films' storylines are repetitive, Shroff is a master at fight scenes and stunts. He can probably be compared to the likes of action stars Akshay Kumar and Vidyut Jammwal. But his moves, though impressive, are lacking in terms of novelty.

On top of that, his performance — particularly his expressions and dialogue delivery — shows no sign of improvement since he made his acting debut in Heropanti (2014).

One can argue that some stars such as Sunny Deol have made a career out of beating up legions of baddies on celluloid. But almost all his action films, be they good or bad, tackled different subjects and had an emotional appeal. That is lacking in the case of Shroff.  

Coming to the storyline, Heropanti 2 is about an evil hacker Laila (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who doubles up as a magician or illusionist. He operates from Europe but prefers accessing the bank accounts of Indians. As 31 March — the day when the financial year ends — nears, he devises a plan to hack the bank account of each and every Indian. 

Interpol, which is struggling to catch hold of the villain, comes across the genius ethical hacker Babloo (Tiger Shroff) who also excels at grinding evildoers to a pulp. Interpol hires Babloo as their secret agent and he is tasked with beating Laila at his own game. Meanwhile, Babloo comes across the chirpy Inaaya and she falls for him. But who exactly is she?

It is given that in such mass action flicks, there isn’t much scope for logic in the plot or narrative. But even by the standards of such Hindi films, it is not possible to take Heropanti 2 seriously even as a mindless action film. For example, despite having such professionals working with them, Interpol has to scout a perfect stranger like Babloo to nab Laila. This is just one example of many such questionable moments. The best [read worst] ones are kept for the finale. 

When you put aside logic, it should be compensated with entertainment but that doesn’t happen here. Apart from the aforementioned repetitive fight sequences, the attempts to use the Lalia and Inaaya's quirky qualities to amuse the audience fall flat. Apart from a few scenes, there is not much humour. 

Siddiqui was brilliant in Kick (2014), which was produced and directed by Sajid Nadiadwala. The makers have lifted his character from the Salman Khan-starrer and inserted it here, adding more craziness. This results in a powerful artiste like Siddiqui being reduced to a laughing stock. 

While Laila is unfunny, Sutaria's character is downright annoying, trying the viewer's patience with her antics and dialogues right from her first scene. Amidst all this, Amrita Singh’s average performance appears brilliant. But to cast her as Shroff’s mother brings back bad memories of A Flying Jatt (2016). Zakir Khan is the only actor who appears entirely convincing. 

The biggest surprise in terms of casting is Uday Mahesh, who had become a sensation as Chellam Sir in the second season of The Family Man. You wonder why he would choose a film like Heropanti 2. But then again, you can’t point fingers when someone as renowned as AR Rahman has also opted to be a part of this train wreck.