By Joginder Tuteja
One of the most awaited films of the year, Drishyam 2 has released on Amazon Prime this week. Though there was good curiosity to check out what do Mohanlal and director Jeethu Joseph bring for audiences this time around, there was still a bit of apprehension around how would the sequel indeed work out, considering the fact that it’s a suspense thriller and the story seemed to have been completed in the first part.
As it turned out though, the sequel has fetched tremendous appreciation as well. The core ethos of Drishyam has been maintained in the second part as well and though the first half is a bit slow, the second half moves at a much rapid pace. The best is reserved though for the pre-climax and the climax which even goes on to beat Abbas-Mastan style of thrillers with the kind of twists and turns that are totally unbelievable, but truly entertaining.
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Rest assured, the film will go on to find very good audiences over a period of time and manage to find cult status for itself soon enough. Also, it will most definitely get a sequel for it too with Ajay Devgn top lining the cast.
Coming soon
Even though the coming week isn’t anything special by means of any holidays or festive occasion, surprisingly it is quite crowded for OTT releases. At last count, at least four major movies/web series would be premiering in various OTT platforms and that too on the same date, 26th February. These are The Girl On The Train,
Hello Mini 2, Jamai 2.0 Season 2 and 1962: The War In The Hills. The good thing is that each of these belongs to a different genre and arrive on unique platforms.
The Girl On The Train is a film that was originally slated for theatrical release last year. However, pandemic struck and then the film was pushed ahead. Later, it was picked up by Netflix for straight-to-digital release. Promo of this Ribhu Dasgupta directed film is quite exciting and for the lovers of thriller genre, this one seems quite promising. Adaptation of a book by the same name, the film is also special for Parineeti Chopra who would be hoping to find some good appreciation coming her way for a twisted character that she is playing.
Another thrilling web series which is coming in is Hello Mini 2. The first season had seen some good popularity coming its way amongst the masses and now MX Player and Applause Entertainment are going all out to ensure that the second season turns all the more gritty, intriguing and suspenseful. With a plot revolving around a stranger who is out to blackmail a young woman, Hello Mini 2 reminds one of the slasher flicks on the lines of ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and with the core plot point of Dare Defy in the dark web, one waits to see how do the thrills and the chills unfold.
Then there is family drama cum thriller Jamai 2.0 Season 2 which is releasing in ZEE5. What started of as a television series has got a good push for itself on the digital medium with the scale and style picking up remarkably. The promo of the web series promises the kind of treatment that has a movie like quality to it. Featuring Nia Sharma, Ravi Dubey and Achint Kaur in lead roles, Jamai 2.0 Season 2 boasts of a good promo as well and has raised intrigue with a plot that revolves around love, deception and betrayal.
As for those who like to catch war dramas on screen, there is 1962: The War In The Hills arriving on Disney+Hotstar. The premium OTT channel had also brought to fore Kabir Khan directed war drama The Forgotten Army early last year and that was set on pre-Independence war. Now in 1962: The War In The Hills, the drama goes many years ahead when Indian soldiers took on China in a war that was impossible to win but required them to demonstrate guts and courage. Spearheaded by Abhay Deol, Sumeet Vyas and Mahie Gill, this one is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar whose delayed film The Power recently premiered as well on OTT.
Release dates
The Girl On The Train - Netflix - 26th February
Jamai 2.0 Season 2 - 26th February
Hello Mini 2 - 26th February
1962: The War In The Hills - Disney+Hotstar - 26th February