Double iSmart Review

After iSmart Shankar in 2019, Ram Pothineni delivered three not-so-successful films and Puri Jagannadh delivered a disaster with Liger. Both teamed up again for Double iSmart, the second film in the iSmart franchise. Ram Pothineni, Sanjay Dutt, Kavya Thapar, Sayaji Shinde, Getup Srinu and others played prominent roles in the film. Did Ram and Puri deliver a much-needed hit? Read the detailed review below to find out.

Story:

Big Bull (Sanjay Dutt), a mafia boss who runs illegal businesses in many countries around the world, finds out that he has a life-threatening brain tumor that limits his life to three months. A scientist suggests Big Bull to transfer his memory to another person to become immortal. Has Big Bull found the right person to transfer his memory to? Was it a good idea to transfer the memory to another person? What happens when Big Bull decides to transfer the memory to Ustaad “iSmart” Shankar (Ram) forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Ram in the title role excelled with his energetic performance. His performance was seamless during the transformation sequences. Sanjay Dutt as Big Bull delivered a decent performance. Kavya Thapar was okay. Ali delivered an over-the-top performance. All other actors were adequate.

Technical details:

Two songs by Mani Sharma looked good on screen but his background score was too loud. Cinematography by Sam K Naidu and Gianni Gianneli was adequate. Editing by Karthika Srinivas could have been better, especially in the second half.

Thumbs up:

The Exciting Achievements of Ram
First half
Core plot of the film
Two songs

Thumbs down:

Ali’s trail
Not so exciting second half
Loud background music
Lack of emotional connection

Analysis:

When the first part of the film released in 2019, people liked it for Ram’s fresh characterization as Ustaad “iSmart” Shankar and Mani Sharma’s chart-topping album. In Double iSmart too, Puri tried to recreate the same magic with the loud characterization of lead actors and succeeded to some extent.

The first half of the film is good with Ram’s energetic performance, two nice songs on screen and a decent interval banger. In the second half, Puri’s script could have been better. He even tried a Pokiri-like climax twist but it didn’t work out as expected. He could have also focused more on establishing the emotional connect with motherly feeling sequences.

Although Ali’s song provided some hilarity in the first half, it became annoying in the second half due to the over-the-top adult jokes.

The hype surrounding the sequel, a decent first half, Ram’s exciting performance and the holiday season may ensure the film will have an easy time at the box office, but a little more focus on the script and songs could have made the film a lot better.

In short: ‘Memory transferred’ in part

Rating: 2.5/5

Tags Dual iSmart Ram