| Director | Aban Bharucha Deohans |
| Sunny Sharma | |
| Cast | Manoj Bajpayee, Prachi Desai, Sahil Vaid, Vaquar Shaikh, Dinker Sharma, Parul Gulati |
| Runtime | 141 minutes |
| Genre | Crime |
| Alternative Title | Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout |
– No Spoilers –
When a horrible shootout at the Night Owl Bar leaves several people dead, ACP Avinash Verma and his team are called in to investigate the crime and get to the bottom of the heartbreaking ordeal. However, he soon discovers that there is something more sinister at play than he was made aware of previously.
Three years after the first part of the first part of the Manoj Bajpayee crime movie Silence, we are once again brought in front of another nifty story which makes Verma and his squad jump into solving another shocking case. The movie’s central crime is a heartbreaking affair and is a prevalent topic the more the years pass by. The way the storyline opens up is both surprising and a little out of left field. Of course, we get to know where this is going early on, the movie doesn’t try to hide it in any way.
But still, the different paths to the same conclusion are interesting to watch, more so because Bajpayee is just so believable as ACP Verma that it’s difficult to not care. Bajpayee is a thrilling protagonist who delivers every beat of his character’s passion for the cause with precision and impeccable care. Although there’s nothing too remarkable about the storyline in general, Verma and his band of colleagues have a moral compass that makes us root for them and is one of the reasons why you’d be able to sit through the movie.
That being said, Silence 2, much like its predecessor, is overdone. The different angles, the people, the crime are fine and important but the way they are presented to the audience is so dramatic and unnecessary that you question why we are being subjected to this. The editing of the film is also an odd showcase – there are moments that cut away too fast or are edited so weirdly that you are taken right out of the viewing experience for no reason. The lengthy runtime, thus, becomes a hindrance to the storyline and makes you wish for it to get to the point.
The movie delivers one last twist in the end and it’s not the worst thing that we have seen out there. Although movie sleuths will be able to figure out the climax from miles away, there’s still some novelty there. The problem, however, is that the creators give away too many things at first but don’t try to mix these things together well. Thus, if you’re a fan of the genre, you will understand the tell-tale signs from a mile away. You know who the perpetrator can be thanks to which characters are shown when and in which manner and, in that context, this is a simple movie in a way.
However, the thing that is truly vile is the reasoning behind the villain’s actions. The way that the movie goes about with this discussion is shameful, especially in 2024. And although Bajpayee’s Verma does mention something on this line, the fact that the creators thought that this would be a good idea is honestly baffling. But, then again, I can’t say I am very surprised either at this point.
As mentioned previously, the editing is jarring and the horrendous CGI is an eyesore, much like Prachi Desai’s fake braid. I didn’t understand the point of the last scene either and it directly ties into the dramatic aspect of the movie and how far the creators push it to make us audibly gasp. There are moments in the movie that will truly keep you on the edge of your seats but there are far too many moments that are simply too basic or are just not done well for you to immerse yourself in the experience.
Silence 2 Review: Final Thoughts
This crime-thriller movie, much like its predecessor, doesn’t hit the nail right on the head. It makes an attempt to truly be a meandering journey through a shocking criminal underbelly but it overdoes the crime and the reasonings so much that it makes you not take it seriously. However, this one-time watch shines because of Bajpayee and the genuineness that you see in his eyes and maybe for that reason it also made me want to stick around till the end… that, and some of its more engaging story points.
Silence 2 is streaming on Zee5.