Reviewers have decided that the movie Silence 2, streaming on Zee5, is not worth watching. They are comparing Avinash Verma(Manoj Bajpayee) with the Family Man. The King of OTT has failed the masses is the verdict.
Contrarily, I like the movie. It has some sensible police procedurals. The Special Crime Unit(SCU) has some "normal" police officers in contrast with the usual super cops we have been swooning over.
SCU grapples with the murder of Sarayu Seth, the Secretary to the Home Minister, who happens to fall prey to the Shoot Out at the Night Owl Bar.
The Home Minister is after the SCU Head to unravel the murderer. As is natural, it is assumed that Seth’s assassination is pivotal to the massacre. However, ACP Avinash Verma with his team Raj(Vaquar Sheikh), Sanjana(Prachi Desai) and Amit(Sahil Vaid) finally figure out that a call girl who also happens to be at the crime scene during the shoot out is incidentally the prime target.
The trail then takes a differnt turn alltogether following which ACP Verma is ushered into the murky underworld of human trafficking and child abuse. The macaber outfit is run by an invisible face.
Who are the operatives? Who is the mastermind? How does the nexus operate? How and who funds the whole operation? These are the questions that ACP Verma and his team work hard to find answers to.
Those who are used to seeing investigatives and police procedurals, abounding the OTTs, in different languages, will agree with me that this film, unlike other Bollywood whodunnits, is understated and solves the mystery in a more intelligent and logical way.
One lead connects to the other. ACP Verma does not pretend to know everything. He interrogates suspects to elicit information and prompts his team to work on the cues unearthed. He is work oriented at the same time also an encouraging and understanding boss. All the right leadership skills there!
The narrative does not focus much on Avinash’s personal life. To be honest he has none. Having shifted to a new residence he has still not been able to unbox a new life. He has a sympathetic daughter. As a father, in turn, he is protective towards his child who is traveling abroad.
Avinash’s anger and intolerance to all those into child exploitation is understandable and quite human. But Bollywood lovers are not used to sensitive handling of detestable crimes. They wish to see a larger than life persona of the law enforcer who does not cringe to resort to unlawful methods to book the culprits and get a pat on the back for it in the long run. A burning example of end justifying the means!
But Silence 2 is not formulaic. Also, there is no harping on the personal tragedies and vacuums in the life of the protagonist. Yet, his aloneness is amply conveyed in minimal shots. I find that commendable.
The SCU leader invests wholly and solely into his job. He is 24x7 available. He does not suffer from one-upmanship. He earns the respect of his team and keeps his personal life away from public eye. The character of ACP Avinash Verma is well developed and jells into the narrative.
Again, refreshingly, there is no unnecessary romantic angle into the camarederie enjoyed by the team. Its plain and simple dedication to work. It goes without saying that there is no song and dance sequence either.
The storytelling is tight. Manoj Bajpayee essays the role of ACP Verma with ease. The comparison of ACP Verma to the Family Man is uncalled for.
The climax comes as a surprise. The profiling of the criminal is interestingly meticulous. The dramatic climax befits the narrative. I did not find one single moment dragging or abrupt or an insult to the intelligence of the viewers.
All in all, Silence 2 is a sensitively handled cop story which delves into the causality of crime deftly without going overboard. It may not be an adrenaline rushing, nail biting thriller. However, it peels away the various layers of a criminal mind. The detailing of the intricacies of the criminal operation is impressive. The Director is able to deliver the goods effectively resulting in evoking the right amount of disgust from the viewers at the apalling magnitude of the heinousness of the covert but rampant flesh trade.
My vote goes to Silence 2 irrespective of the negative opinion of the learned critiques thronging the net.
A must for all suspense lovers, its a change agent in the league of conventional crime thrillers Bollywood so suavely dishes out now and then. Enjoy watching!