Synopsis: An ex-minister tries to get back a laptop containing the details about his corrupt wealth, but his auditor blackmails him for money. Meanwhile, three young men, with their own problems, get involved in this.

Review: Given that Kalakalappu 2 is a follow-up to the successful Kalakalappu (the film is not a sequel, but another story on similar lines), Sundar C goes for twice the budget (a major portion of film takes place in Kasi), twice the star cast and a plot that requires twice the screen time (well, that’s how it feels, anyway)... But is this twice as funny? That is the question that matters, and the answer is, not really. That said, the film is funny and keeps you in splits, though there are very few moments that come close to being as sharp and funny as the first one. This is mainly because there is over-plotting and over-indulgence (Sundar C just doesn’t want to stop) and by the time the film ends, it leaves us exhausted — though, this isn’t necessarily a complaint.

The film begins with an IT raid in ex-minister Dharmaraj's (Madhusudhanan) house, but he manages to pass along a laptop containing the details of all his ill-gotten wealth to his auditor (Munishkanth). The auditor, hiding in Kasi, decides to use this opportunity to make money for himself and blackmails the minister. Meanwhile, a youngster (Jai) goes to Kasi to get back his ancestral mansion, which is now being managed by Seenu (Jiiva). Seenu tries to stall him until he can get his sister engaged to Gopal (Sathish), who wants to become a sanyasi. However, his sister, Hema (Catherine) and Seenu try to make him give up the idea, and in the process, fall in love with each other. Jai, too, becomes attracted to Aishwarya (Nikki Galrani), the local tahsildar, and a family friend of Seenu. Even as Jai discovers the truth about the mansion, the two young men realise that Aishwarya is about to be conned by Ganesh (Shiva), the same guy (Shiva) who had stolen their own money.

Plot has always been a clothes-hanger for Sundar C to string his comedy sequences and that is the case in Kalakalappu 2, too. After establishing the core plot, he keeps introducing newer sub-plots and newer characters. He devotes the entire first half to establishing the problems of Seenu and Jai. The actors have minimal scope for comedy and are mainly required to play straight-faced characters who drive the plot, romance the heroines (who are there mainly to add some glam) and dance in the songs (too many, too loud, and the chief reason behind the length of the film).

But he lets loose in the second half, once Shiva makes his entry as Ganesh. The actor’s role is the equivalent of Santhanam’s star turn in the first film, and Shiva is in good form. The segment involving his attempt to steal some valuable jewels, which is set in Karaikudi, is the highlight of the film, especially with Robo Shankar and Shiva lifting the familiar set-up with their timing. But the climax, which is set in a railway station, is clearly over indulgent. Also, the director mainly plays around with the trope of one character or the other (this is mainly a toss-up between Yogi Babu, VTV Ganesh, Robo Shankar and Madhusudhanan) getting beaten-up to generate laughs, and after a point, this becomes tiresome. 

UNDER PROGRESS