Back in 2021, Manoj Bajpayee starred in ‘Silence... Can You Hear It?’ alongside Prachi Desai. He played the role of ACP Avinash Verma who heads the special unit at the crime branch in Mumbai. This murder mystery generated significant buzz upon its OTT release because fans saw Bajpayee in a new role. After making the audience wait for almost three years, Aban Bharucha Deohans has now come up with a sequel to this flick. Titled ‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’, the movie follows the officers at the special unit under the leadership of ACP Avinash Verma. The movie released on April 16 and is available to stream on Zee 5. In case you are planning to watch this murder mystery, here’s all that you need to know about it.
‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’: Story
The movie follows ACP Avinash Verma (played by Manoj Bajpayee) as he moves to his new house in Mumbai. As he takes these new steps, he is assigned to a new confidential case. A shootout has taken place at the Night Owl Bar. The shootout killed not just one person, but the others also who were present in the bar. However, one of them got saved by an inch and he ended up being the sole witness to the crime.
ACP Avinash Verma asks the man to narrate the sequence of events that took place at the bar. As he narrates the incident, the matter appears murkier than it looked like. During the shootout, one of the people who has been shot was a woman. She has been shot in a strange manner which has raised questions. As the team investigates the murder of this woman, they find out that the case is linked to a bigger racket.
‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’: Performances
Manoj Bajpayee as ACP Avinash Verma is a treat to look at on screen. His character has a dry sense of humour and a quirky way of getting things done. He has an unorthodox way of sifting through the clues to get to the crux of the case. Bajpayee has embodied these traits beautifully in the film. He proves why he is a reliable performer because his screen presence in every scene is commanding. Not just his somber acting skills, the actor has also performed a few action sequences here and there. It is a treat to watch him perform these sequences where he glides like butter on command.
Coming to Prachi Desai as Inspector Sanjana Bhatia. You can see that her acting chops are there, but she is trying too hard to hold her space next to Bajpayee. Frankly speaking, she did not have to do that. If she stuck around to doing what was needed of her role, she would have been quite easy on the eye. But she tries to go above and beyond her role and that’s what pulls her performance down. She puts in a lot of effort and that just backfires on her.
Apart from these two, none of the performances stand out. Parul Gulati is dramatic to no end in her debut Hindi film. Understandably her character is cold-blooded and menacing, but the way she has brought it to life feels like we are watching a television serial unfold right before our eyes. Similarly, Dinker Sharma is over dramatic, and he sucks out the thrill from his antagonistic character which was written quite interestingly.
‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects
When I saw ‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’, I realized that the makers put thought only into writing Manoj Bajpayee’s character. It feels like they did lip service to every other character in the film. Similarly, it feels like they did not put any effort into writing the dialogue either. The characters simply do not drive the story forward with their dialogues in this whodunit. They state the obvious. The writing has multiple loopholes. At the beginning, I was ignoring them, but after a point, there was only so much that I could ignore.
Coming to direction. The movie needs crisp editing. The movie could have been wrapped up in even two hours, but it felt like the director just wanted to make sure the movie reached the two-and-a-half-hour mark by any means. After a while, the movie feels too long and dragged. I found myself losing attention after a while because the loose ends were not tying up and the unnecessary bits were stretched out for too long.
The only good part about ‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’ is the camera work. The camera work is smooth, and it keeps your attention in this poorly written whodunit. It takes you along with the special unit as they try to solve the case. The shots which capture movement and adrenaline are also smooth and not shaky and that makes for a good viewing experience.
‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’: Cast & Crew
Director: Aban Bharucha Deohans
Writer: Aban Bharucha Deohans
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Prachi Desai, Vaquar Shaikh, Sahil Vaid, Parul Gulati, Dinker Sharma
Available On: Zee 5
Duration: 2 hours 22 minutes
Languages: Hindi
‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’: Can Kids Watch It?
No. The strong language can be a problem for young viewers.
Outlook’s Verdict
When I finished watching ‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’, I was left with many questions. By the end of the movie, you still do not know why one character behaves eccentrically and how another girl who had strange marks on her eyeballs was killed. These two plots were conveniently forgotten and by the end of it, I had a feeling of incompleteness. The movie bites off more than it could chew and that leads to these loose ends. The writing loopholes make you feel like you are watching an episode from a Hindi crime serial. It was painful to watch Manoj Bajpayee perform so well in a movie that does not do justice to him or any other character. ‘Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout’ left me with a foul taste in my mouth. I am going with 1.5 stars.
