Review of Satyameva Jayate 2: The film starring John Abraham is a slew of outdated cliches and poor storytelling.

Review of Satyameva Jayate 2: With his trademark fixed-frown and swinging-fists, John Abraham strides through this. He only does the bare-bodied superhero who can take on any foe with a small dimpled nudge-wink once or twice.

Satyameva Jayate 2 movie cast: John Abraham, Divya Khosla Kumar, Harsh Chhaya, Anup Soni, Gautami Kapoor, Sahil Vaid

Satyameva Jayate 2 movie director: Milap Zaveri

Satyameva Jayate 2 movie rating: One star

I felt a strong sensation of déjà vu when seeing 'Satyameva Jayate 2'. In the most heinous way conceivable. Because this picture starring John Abraham in And As Vigilante No 1 might have been a serious contender against the horrible films of the 1980s, which spliced together action-comedy-songs with no regard for narrative or characters.

The first thing you need to know, and I'm not going to give anything away here, is that Abraham plays three roles. Triple roles with identical-looking males are the epitome of the 1980s. Satya and Jay, as well as their valiant father, Dadasaheb Balram Azad, all share screen time in order to flaunt their chiseled armored-plated chests (56 inches keeps coming up) and pound the enemies into pulp.

Said villains have also been unearthed from a galaxy of old-school villains. One of them is a man who mutilates and disfigures small children and compels them to beg. Another is an officer who is complicit in the crime. A greedy neta is the third. Crooked godman is the only character missing from this cast, but for a film set in today's UP, that might be asking too much.

There's a mother (Gautami Kapoor) in a coma, and a wife (Divya Khosla) who gets to be flirting, just in case we start missing a female presence. The moment we see the mother-in-coma figure, we know she knows a secret, and the moment she opens her eyes, which she does, appearing perfectly healthy, she will reveal everything. What are bedsores and muscle wasting?

Let's not go into logic and all that. This is typical Bollywood fare. Let's not do it. But, at the very least, can we expect that there be some semblance of a plot, that the jokes aren't as crude, that the lines aren't as visible, and that the violence isn't as gratuitous? Swords are twisted, people are transformed into colanders, orifices are ripped open, and language is delivered at deafening levels.

The return of the vigilante is set amid a whirlwind of loud religious imagery (mandirs, masjids, and gurdwaras abound; God knows how they managed to leave out churches) and high-pitched nationalism, allowing the film to generate as many flag-waving opportunities as possible.

Abraham's Dada Saheb, with his twisting Azad mustaches, is the 'asli desh bhakt,' who thinks that 'tan man dhan' is always subordinate to 'jan man gan,' and his offspring, one a politician and the other a cop,' are the two other pillars of righteousness.

Abraham strides through this with his usual fixed-frown-and-swinging-fists combination. He only does the bare-bodied superhero who can take on any foe with a small dimpled nudge-wink once or twice. The rest is a slew of outdated tropes and lousy storytelling, reinvigorating the perilous notion of justice being meted out by men who have assumed the roles of judge, jury, and executioner. The way these 'heroes' keep yelling about 'azaadi,' you'd think India is still battling for her independence. You'd think that sloppy writing has passed us by. That was back in the 1980s. The year is 2021. What is their justification?