It appears that the makers of Neeya 2 got very different things out of the 1979 Kamal Haasan-Sripriya film, Neeya, than I did. In a simplistic sense, that hit film was about men wading into animal space and leaving them the worse for it. It was about Kamal outwitting his adversary, a serpent-woman. It was ultimately about a wronged woman seeking vengeance — and getting it, you could argue. But here’s what Neeya 2 has plucked out of it: It has borrowed the Ore Jeevan song. It has borrowed the idea of a serpent-woman. It has borrowed the idea of having two heroines (given the scope of Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s role, I’m not including her as a third) — and this is something director L Suresh seems particularly thrilled about. It shows in how the masala trope of two women desperately coveting one man, has been adopted. Two female characters — played by Raai Laxmi and Catherine Tresa — being unable to keep their hands off the hero (Jai), and the pretense of a sequel, seem to have convinced them all that this could be a winning idea.

Cast: Jai, Catherine Tresa, Raai Laxmi, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar
Director: L Suresh

I imagine that part of the idea of having Divya (Catherine Tresa) and Malar (Raai Laxmi) throw themselves at Sarva/Vikram (Jai) is to act as wish fulfillment, in a sense. There’s some rationale for why Malar can’t let him go, but Divya loves him because… well, even she doesn’t truly understand why. At one point, she says that despite so many men making advances, she is smitten by Sarva. I suppose the film’s explanation for it is vidhi — one of the two funny priests in this film talks at length about how it’s futile to understand vidhi, and how it can only be experienced. It’s probably a bit like this film itself. No matter how much I write about it, you won’t truly understand till you experience it.

(Review continued in the link below)

For the remainder of this review (and there’s a whole lot left, I assure you), please visit https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/tamil/2019/may/24/neeya-2-movie-review-jai-catherine-tresa-raai-laxmi-varalaxmi-sarathkumar-11796.html