He can’t salvage it

Nonika Singh

A film headlined by Manoj Bajpayee and you are all agog. Drama in the very first scene and you are ready for more excitement. Talks of ‘elliptical blood spatter’ and a few more technical specs and you think this thriller has its intelligence quotient in place. Indeed, part two of ‘Silence’ starts on a promising note.

Bajpayee as ACP Avinash Verma, heading a special crime unit, reprising the part of its prequel, gets his action and sardonic humour right. There is a hint of a clever subtext as he tells his superior, ‘If no one important has died, why involve me?’

His sleuth skills make him easily come to the conclusion that the shootout at the bar was aimed at a particular girl and not the minister’s secretary. For a while, till her identity and what she does for a living is revealed, we are interested in the game plan, which leads us to many significant links of the case. But, soon enough, the apparent clues tell you that this is no humdinger but a collation of red herrings. Sure, there is a sense of urgency in the way the police, particularly this special team which has Prachi Desai as Inspector Sanjana, functions. It moves places, cities. But the missteps are too evident. And finally, when Bajpayee uses the words ‘Misdirection is an art’ in context of the prime suspect, Arjun Chauhan (Dinker Sharma), an unhinged mystery man, a theatre performer of sorts with an apparent Shakespearean predilection, you can’t suppress a chuckle.

The direction and writing in ‘Silence 2’ are misdirected and not in the artistic way. The film struggles in more than one department but most of all, in keeping the thrill factor alive. Finally, a whole lot of time is spent in not solving the murders but explaining the whodunit. The climax though is unexpected. You don’t see it coming but it is equally bizarre. The sharp twist meant to take our breath away is rather lame. The reasoning for the murderer’s evil deeds, including child trafficking, lies in a personal sob story.

Abuse can lead you to abusive behaviour. Point taken, but not swallowed. The gender identity of the criminal is supposedly the big twist but comes across more as twisted. The big reveal neither builds sympathy for the culprit, nor tension for the narrative. The LGBTQ angle, sombre lines like ‘my moral compass is not the same as yours’ and more can’t salvage the film. Every now and then, Bajpayee as ACP Verma keeps saying, ‘Kuch toh gadbad hai’, and we can only ditto the same. Bajpayee, the fine actor that he is, is certainly a redeeming feature in this misguided fare. But he has delighted us more in other better films/series.

As for the other members of his team, Prachi Desai is reduced to giving away her contact cards and uttering the most inane lines. Even otherwise, why call the film ‘Silence’ when nothing here is evocative? The bachelorette party trend is so ‘in your face’ that you feel little for the minor victims. ‘The devil is in details,’ says team member Amit (Sahil Vaid) by way of commendation to his superior, Verma. Alas, the same compliment can’t be paid to the film.