It is not often that you start hearing positive views of a film that happens to be a sequel to a film you had never heard of in the first place. That is exactly what happened with Bharathanatyam 2 Mohiniyattam (B2M). Quite a few in my network were nudging me to watch this film and share my thoughts. When I checked, I realised that this is a sequel to the 2024 comedy film Bharathanatyam. Truth be told, I had neither heard nor watched that film. I found that the first part is streaming on Amazon Prime and quickly watched it.
The first part, Bharathanatyam, is a decent comedy film that had a lot of potential but ultimately leaves one disappointed. The film revolves around a family headed by a patriarch with four grown-up children. While counting his days in bed, the patriarch Bharathan Nair reveals the existence of another family, with a wife and a son. He wants to see them and also requests members of his first family to take it in the right spirit and deal with them amicably. The family, of course, gets caught in the “log Kya kahenge” syndrome and tries its best to hide the patriarch’s apparent mischief from society. The film is set in a small town in Kerala, where friends and neighbours are naturally wired to be nosy. This situational setting lends itself nicely to a rib-tickling comedy if written well. Writer and Director Krishnadas Murali does a good job in structuring the screenplay and only a half-good job of writing it. The result is an underwhelming film in which the comedy works but in bits and pieces.
In the sequel Bharathanatyam 2 Mohiniyattam, Murali makes a lot of amends in both the screenplay and the writing. The result is a full-length comedy film that lands well, even though there is a genre shift from the social comedy of the first part to a wily dark comedy of the second part. There is, however, a common theme running through both films. The first part is largely about the first family dealing with the after-effects of Bharathan’s act of polygamy. In the second part, both families come together but have to deal with further wrongdoings by Bharathan Nair, which come to light only after his death.
The genre shift happens when B2M becomes a Drishyam-like film written as a comedy. The Director parodies not just Drishyam but many other films, including Vikram, throughout the film. Some of the humour lands brilliantly, while some of it does not. The cast, led by Shaiju Kurup in the lead role (his title card parodies Rajini’s iconic title card by the way), delivers fine performances. Kalaranjini, in particular, shows why she is as good as her sisters, Urvashi and Kalpana, in doing comedy. Suraj Venjaramoodu, who we are used to seeing play his role subtly, deliberately acts in a higher meter, and that works for the character.
There are stretches when the film lags due to lengthy sequences thrust in the name of comedy. Also, the film raises moral questions where a purported crime is bundled in a sack, again in the name of comedy. Leaving these issues aside. Bharathanatyam 2 Mohiniyattam is an enjoyable comedy that can be watched once. Since there are a lot of references to the first part, Bharathanatyam, it makes more sense to watch the second part after watching the first part.
Bharathanatyam 2 Mohinyattam is now streaming on Netflix.
My Flash Verdict: A good watch.
Postscript: Interestingly, the first part’s title Bharathanatyam is understandably derived from Bharathan Nair’s deeds or rather misdeeds. So, one can guess what the sequel’s title, Mohiniyattam, is based on…
AnandKumarRSonFilms 
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