Vishwaroopam 2 , Kamal Haasan’s inglorious swansong, is likely to lose a minimum of Rs 25-30 crores for its distributors Reliance Entertainment.Sources say the Kamal-produced anti-terror espionage thriller has proven to be a mission impossible for its producers.
According to sources, Reliance bought the film off Kamal as a premium product after the actor-politician had personally requested them to help with the financially troubled project.“Reliance took up the project on good faith. They were not allowed to see a single frame. Nor were they invited to make suggestions. It was presumed that Vishwaroopam 2 would live up to the reputation of the first part released in 2013. However the sequel turned out to be cut-and-paste follow up with some footage repeated from the first part,” says a source in the know.
Most critics and viewers have dismissed the film as chaotic, incoherent, indecipherable and utterly unpalatable. Even the staunchest Kamal fans have found it hard to sit through the muddled mix of mayhem and nationalism rendered even more unpalatable by the actor-director’s overweening narcissism.
Quite literally , Kamal is in every frame, thereby rendering even the legendary Waheeda Rehman to a mere prop.From day 1 of release, Vishwaroopam 2 has proved a losing proposition. A source from a leading multiplex chain says, “This week’s box office leader is the Hollywood shark-shocker The Meg. We have it in as many languages as Vishwaroopam 2. Audiences much preferred the Jaws rip off (The Meg is in the same genre as Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws released four decades ago) rather than the shoddy Indian version of Mission Impossible.”
Audiences complain that Vishwaroopam 2 is incoherent and jumbled.The collections of Vishawroopam 2 are also proving abysmal. Says a trade analyst, “Vishwaroopam in 2013 was no great shakes at the box office. But the controversy surrounding it helped generate some curiosty. This time there is nothing to bring audiences into theatres to see Vishwaroopam 2. The collections are extremely pitiable.”
