4 minutes of readingUpdated: February 6, 2026 04:04 pm IST
Vadh 2 movie review: If you compare the two, the spiritual successor to Vadh 2022 is better than the original, but as a standalone, Vadh 2 fails to deliver on the promise it starts with.
First, however, we must highlight the way in which the prison drama pays attention to all of its characters, not just the two main protagonists: Neena Gupta and Sanjay Mishra bear the same names, but, interestingly, do not reprise their roles.
In the first film, Shambhunath and Manju are middle-aged spouses, ruined by the selfishness of an only child. In this one, the former works in Shivpuri prison, the latter is an inmate serving a life sentence for a double murder.
The connection between the two in Vadh 2 It is that of a couple who have come to learn each other’s rhythms through a crack in the wall, bridging the distance that prisons create between the imprisoned and the free. Manju has devised ways to communicate with Shambhunath, who is not only the supplier of illicit goods (mainly ‘daaru’) that become prime currency in jail, but also someone who develops a soft spot for his accomplice.
The entry of Keshav (Akshay Dogra), an impulsive criminal who casts his lustful gaze on the scared and fresh Naina (Yogita Bihani), makes things go out of control. The new jailer Prakash Singh (Kumud Mishra), who prides himself on being a casteist, cracks the whip at what happens, resulting in a murder. Cunning cop Ateet (Amitt K Singh) is sent to solve the case and secrets begin to unravel.
If you kill a man who deserves to be killed, are you guilty or have you done the right thing? Once again, this is not a simple murder. Again, Mishra’s Shambhunath calls it ‘vadh’, and once again, the unity of why brings us to a morally complex situation where you are left pondering crime, punishment and justice.
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Or, let’s say, it should have, because that’s the crux of both films. But the writing doubles down after the atmospheric setup, showing us his hand sooner than it should, telegraphing his strokes (one seems to have been “borrowed” from a Richard Osman mystery): when he shows us a freezer in the house of someone who has no business having it, and mentions it more than once, that’s the end of all tension, even before the reveal.
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While veterans Gupta and Mishra, as well as the other Mishras, do their jobs like the seasoned actors they are, the others manage to leave a mark, even if you are left wondering why a cop’s chiseled chest is given an entire scene to itself. The dark interiors of a prison are well filmed, but like everything Bollywood, the background music is relentless and never gives us a break.
What saves it is the climactic twist, in which old dots are connected and a much-needed note of redemption is injected into the proceedings.
Cast of the movie Vadh 2: Neena Gupta, Sanjay Mishra, Kumud Mishra, Amitt K Singh, Yogita Bihani, Akshay Dogra, Shilpa Shukla
Director of the movie Vadh 2: Jaspal Singh Sandhu
Vadh 2 Movie Rating: 2.5 stars