Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2 Review - Vidyut Jammwal's Revenge Saga Has Got Some Hot Action But Terribly Cold Story

Vidyut Jammwal as Sameer and Shivakeeka Oberoi as Nargis have returned to Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2: Agni Pariksha. That's the only similarity you'll find from Khuda Haafiz Chapter 1, rest, it's fresh story serving as a sequel. Chapter 1 was inspired by the Historical Epic Ramayana, and that's why it was a personal story of Sameer and Nargis. Chapter 2 spreads its wings wide and doesn't limit itself to a personal story, even though it is a personal revenge at the beginning. Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2 is more like a social message drama with action and emotions running side by side, but it comes with a lot of flaws. It doesn't look like an Agni Pariksha from any angle. That's the biggest issue with the film.After saving his wife from Noman's woman racket, Sameer (Vidyut Jammwal) tries to live a peaceful life with a disturbed Nargis (Shibaleeka Oberoi), who has lost all interest in life. The adoption of a daughter, Nandini, changes things for them, and just when these three are getting started with a good, happy life, tragedy strikes again. Nandini gets kidnapped by a landlady's henchmen while returning from school. Sameer ventures out to save Nandini and also seeks vengeance against the landlady (Sheeba Chaddha), while Nargis parts ways, blaming Sameer for the loss.The script is damn engaging in the first half as it explores various emotions of a common family in simple yet effective ways. Everything makes sense until a minute before the interval point, and then the debacle show starts. The same film that appeared to be overwhelming a minute ago now appears illogical. Why did Nargis leave Sameer? It wasn't him who kidnapped the girl. Why was she so eager to see him marry another girl just because she couldn't walk down the street, and the same woman is happily walking down the streets now that she has a daughter? How? Does having a daughter make people forget your past that was troubling you so badly a few moments ago?Let's move on to the second half. You must have seen a glimpses of the jail sequence in the trailer, so you must have some idea of what's gonna happen there. It does happen, and Sameer still walks free out of jail. How? He hits the bastard so hard in the climax scene on the sensitive point, yet he has the strength to run faster than Sameer? How? Flat, dumb and outdated, that's what the screenplay is here. Don't be surprised if it reminds you of many 80s and 90s action masala films and their scenes. We complain about original films, and then we have an original story ruined like this by the unofficial remaking of multiple sequences from different movies.Performance wise, Vidyut Jammwal shows an improvement from the Chapter 1. That film took him through a lot of chases, which ultimately caused restrictions on an actor. But Agni Pariksha gives him a space to explore as an actor in the first half of the film. Then what you see in the second half is the same old Vidyut. His wife, Nargis, looks very convincing at the start. Shivaleeka had to look a little dull in the beginning part, and she looks so. She had to look gorgeous like she was before, and she still looks so after a while. That transformation and emotional encouragement are handled very nicely by Shivaleeka Oberoi.Riddhi Sharma as Nandini is cute, adorable and innocent, and you'll definitely love her. Dibyendu Bhattacharya looked too deadly as one of the villains, the butcher, but he and his role were chopped off so early and so easily. God knows why. I would blame the writer for giving such a disgraceful character to Sheeba Chaddha. I mean, she is a high-quality artist and deserves weighty roles, not this outdated 80s female villain mixed with modern lesbian issues. The rest of the cast will indicate spoilers; hence, I'm avoiding their mentions here. That's a good excuse, I guess.The trio of Mithoon, Vishal Mishra, and Shabbir Ahmed have given a good situational music album for the film. None of the songs are huge hits, but none of them are bad either. Jitan Harmeet Singh's cinematography is notable in action sequences, and Sandeep Francis's editing is fine only in the first half. Watching Khuda Haafiz Chapter 1 on mobile was nothing extraordinary, but a decent experience. It never excited me or the majority of the audience for the sequel. Yet, Faruk Kabir decided to go ahead and made this. He did unexpectedly well as far as the concept and its social relevance are concerned, but the screenplay made it a complete washout.Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2: Agni Pariksha would have been a much better film with a sensible storyline. The same social appeal was made by Rohit Shetty's Simbba in 2019 only, and even that film needed a boost from Cop-universe. Consider Khuda Haafiz 2, which is neither a cop universe movie nor a South remake. The film makes for a below-average product that has got some hot action sequences but is pulled down by a terribly cold and outdated storyline.