Sharan in ‘Avatara Purusha 2’
| Photo Credit: Anand Audio/YouTube

Suni’s Avatara Purusha, the black-magic drama starring Sharan and Ashika Ranganath, was released in 2022. The film, with an interesting first 15 minutes and a closing portion packed with little surprises, ended with the promise of a worthy second installment. Of course, the first part did suffer from the makers’ intention to stretch a thin plot into two parts, as the middle portion had sporadic fun and several flat scenes.

The second installment begins with a small narration about the events of Avatara Purusha. Rama Jois (Saikumar), an Ayurveda exponent, and his wife Susheela (Bhavya) lose their son Karna in a temple fair with his aunt Yashoda (Sudharani). The incident creates a rift between Rama Jois and Yashoda. After several years, in her attempt to unite the siblings, Yashoda’s daughter Siri (Ashika Ranganath) choses Anil (Sharan), a junior film artiste, to pretend like Karna. Anil manages to convince Susheela that he is her long-lost son. The film ends with the big reveal of Anil’s past.

Avatara Purusha 2 starts steadily, with Anil recollecting his dark childhood at a black-magic cult headed by Dharka (Ashutosh Rana). Anil escapes from the world of witchcraft and reforms himself under a spiritual teacher. However, he realises that Dharka is targeting Rama Jois and his family as they have the crucial gemstone, the key to entering Trishanku Loka, a rare world neither belonging to heaven nor related to Earth. The onus falls on Anil to save the family.

Sharan’s charm makes the film watchable, but only to an extent, as he saves several banal humorous scenes with his comic timing. However, once the film enters the supernatural zone, Avatara Purusha 2 goes haywire. It fails to transport us into the eerie world of witchcraft and magic. The scenes feel shoddily joined together as the film suffers from a lack of rhythm, and the final showdown between Anil and Dharka doesn’t blow our minds away.

The second instalment is also low on entertainment quotient. The film has no engaging drama on display, and the final output feels compromised, with tacky visual effects and ordinary sets.

ALSO READ:‘Ondu Sarala Prema Kathe’ movie review: A sluggish return to form for Suni

Avatara Purusha 2 is Suni’s second release of the year after Ondu Sarala Prema Kathe. Like all Suni films, this one also has crackling ideas that don’t come together perfectly to offer us a consistently engaging viewing experience. That said, the director’s movies have gained delayed acceptance from the masses. That’s the least Suni would hope for if his latest fails to draw people to theatres.

Avatara Purusha 2 is running in theatres.