‘Vadh 2’ review: A well-executed successor to ‘Vadh’

In the vigilante thriller Vadh (2022), the elderly couple Shambhu and Manju carry off the perfect, righteous crime – the murder of a pervert who targets a young woman. Directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajiv Barnwal, Vadh had solid performances, a tight plot with a matching gritty palette, and rare respect for the slow movements of its elderly heroes.

These factors are also in play in Vadh 2, directed and co-written by Sandhu with inputs from Neha Shitole and Rahul Sain. The successor too has characters named Shambhu and Manju, who are played by the same actors, Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta. They aren’t married this time, but Shambhu wishes they were.

Shambhu is a guard at a prison in Madhya Pradesh. Among his favourite side hustles is to buy the things that Manju needs for herself and the other prisoners. Manju is near the end of a lengthy sentence for a double murder. The high point of Shambhu’s day – rather, night – is to sneak across to the wall that separates him from Manju and talk to her through the concrete.

The arrival of a new jail warden shakes up things. Prakash (Kumud Mishra) is a casteist disciplinarian, perilously punishing the politically connected prisoner Keshav (Akshay Dogra) when he misbehaves. Keshav’s sudden disappearance shocks the prison.

Investigating officer Ateet (Amitt K Singh) is convinced that Keshav has been killed. But there is no body, and nobody against whom Ateet can muster up evidence.

Vadh 2 initially watches with leisure the tracing of character arcs, the low-level corruption rackets, the breadcrumb trail laying that makes sense only later. These portions make room for secondary characters, such as Shambhu’s colleague Nadeem (Nadeem Khan), the new inmate Naina (Yogita Bihani), and Rajni (Shilpa Shukla), one of the wardens in the women’s jail.

Familiarity with the previous movie is best banished to the recesses of memory. Despite the sneaking suspicion that Vadh 2 isn’t terribly different from its predecessor, Jaspal Singh Sandhu works hard on his material. The new movie has political undercurrents running through its several twists. Cinematographer Sapan Narula’s tight framing not only brings out the prison’s finite boundaries but also showcases the serious, grown-up performances.

The balance of the elements that matter with the aspects that will sustain suspense until the end holds for the most part. While Sandhu’s unhurried staging is pleasingly old-fashioned, there are times in the 131-minute film when you wish he would hurry up. Some of the runtime is devoted to the self-conscious Ateet, the least interesting character.

Kumud Mishra, typically brilliant as a velvet-voiced toughie, doesn’t get enough of a platform. Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta have more of the story to themselves. Despite solid supporting turns from Shilpa Shukla and Nadeem Khan, Vadh 2 is really about Shambhu and Manju, beautifully played by the acting veterans.

While the film about a perfect crime isn’t perfect, Vadh 2 is certainly well-executed, engaging and thoughtful. What could have been a gimmick becomes a fresh opportunity to ask questions about what justice means in practice, whom does it actually serve, and who gets to play judge or executioner.

The judicial process has failed several of the characters, leading them to come up with their own moral codes in a place where the normal rules of engagement don’t apply. Behind the bars and amidst the shared spaces of the prison, men and women find a freedom that isn’t available on the outside.