Dharmaveer 2

Dharmaveer 2 (2024) : Movie Review -

Dharmaveer 2 continues the story from its predecessor, but it divides the narrative equally in two parts. A half belongs to Mr. Anand Dighe, his work, his ethics, and his pride, and the rest belongs to Mr. Ekanath Shinde, his work, his ethics, and his pride (before he became the honorable chief minister of Maharashtra). That's one of the main issues with the film because it feels like more of a Shinde's film than Mr. Dighe, who is supposed to play the titular role. Also, the film is made right before the election period in Maharashtra, so one might look at it as promotional content, even though the film is fully real and honest from Mr. Ekanath Shinde's point of view. Therefore, it is strictly for the fans of Dighe Saheb, Shinde Saheb, and Kattar Shivsainiks who hail Hindutva as the greatest thing in their lives.

Dharmaveer 2 doesn't have a linear plot, as things are told in a two-layer narrative. One is the past, which belongs to Mr. Dighe's work, and the other one explores Shinde's work from his past with Dighe and then without Dighe. The film begins with Dighe's hardcore Hinduism as the powerful HINDUFIED massy segments come one after another. From Palghar sadhu lynching, Babri Masjid, Jai Shree Ram, Haji Malang, Hindu religion being the best in the world, proselytism, Sawarkar's deshabhakti, the Central government favoring anti-Hindu events, Nathuram Godse's stage drama getting banned to films destroying Bhagawa, it explores everything in the first hour. The second half takes you into Shinde's life, his work, and the torment he had to go through under the political alliance when Shivsena came to rule in Maharashtra during the COVID period.

As mentioned in the tagline, it's a half Dighe and half Shinde show, and it's strictly for Shivsainiks who belong to Kattar Hinduism more than political choices. The film becomes too Shinde-fied in the second half, which many wouldn't have expected because they went in to watch Dighe's biographical, or rather, the curiosity over his sudden demise since Dharmaveer 1 had covered most of his biopic stuff already. The entire second half is about the political struggle Shinde and his close ones had to go through, and we all know the entire story from the media channels from 2019 to 2021. The entire political makeover is known to the public, but not pre-story. Dharmaveer 2 tries to explore that, rather, let's say, it runs with the same motive throughout the second hour. The dated drama may not appeal to a big bunch since they were more interested in watching the Anand Dighe's story from the past than Mr. Shinde's political affairs in the last 4-5 years, which are very much known to everyone through the news channels. The film still has some massy moments and emotional segments that will move you.

Prasad Oak delivers yet another powerpack performance as Dighe Saheb. He is Dighe saheb for those who haven't seen him in real life. He does it again, but this time the screen time is only half. Kshitish Date gets a bigger role this time, and he has done a brilliant job. His getup, body language, and accent as Eknath Shinde are top notch. From Makarand Date to Snehal Tarde to Abhijeet Khandekar and many others, there is a huge supporting cast here, and they all look decent while reprising the roles, including the newly added characters.

Dharmveer 2 has a few action sequences that have mass value and a solid background score. "Asa ha Dharamveer" song sounded much better in the prequel than this. The editing is sloppy in the second half, and the cinematography is below par. D2 isn't anywhere close to the entertainment value of Part 1, so you better keep your expectations low. Pravin Tarde has finally missed a hit as a director. He has been quite successful, but this time, things are looking bad. Let's hope that Dharmaveer 2 evokes the fans and makes a box office hit, but personally, I think it could have been a lot better, if not on par with Dharmaveer (2022). Tarde's vision isn't really appealing enough to carry this all the way, especially in today's time when Maharastra assembly elections are around the corner. Wait, we still have Part 3 coming!

RATING - 4/10*