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 of them teamed up again for Double iSmart, the second film in the iSmart franchise. Ram Pothineni, Sanjay Dutt, Kavya Thapar, Sayaji Shinde, Getup Srinu & others played prominent roles in the film. Did Ram and Puri deliver a much-needed hit? Read the detailed review below to figure it out.

Story:

Big Bull(Sanjay Dutt), a Mafia don who controls illegal businesses in many countries across the globe gets to know he has a life-threatening brain tumour due to which he can live three more months at the most. A scientist suggests Big Bull to get his memory transfer done to another individual to become immortal. Did Big Bull find the right person to transfer his memory? 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 neat performance. Kavya Thapar was ok. Ali delivered an over-the-top performance. All other actors were adequate.

Technicalities:

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

Thumbs Up:

Ram’s Electrifying Performance
First Half
Core Plot of The Film
Two Songs

Thumbs Down:

Ali’s Track
Not So Engaging Second Half
Loud Background Score
Lack of Emotional Connect

Analysis:

When the first part of the film was released in 2019, people liked it because of the fresh characterisation of Ram as Ustaad “iSmart” Shankar and Mani Sharma’s chartbuster album. In Double iSmart as well, Puri tried to recreate the same magic with lead actors’ loud characterisation & succeeded to an extent.

The first half of the film is good with Ram’s energetic performance, two good-looking songs on screen and a decent interval bang. In the second half, Puri’s writing could have been better. He even tried a Pokiri-like climax twist but it did not work as expected. He also could have focused more on establishing the emotional connection with mother sentiment sequences.

Even though Ali’s track generated a few laughs during the first half, it ended up becoming irritating in the second half with over-the-top adult jokes.

Sequel hype, a decent first half, Ram’s electrifying performance and the holiday season may help the film sail without many hiccups at the Box Office but a bit more focus on writing and songs could have helped the film in a big way.

Bottomline: ‘Memory Transferred’ Partially

Rating: 2.5/5