Akasha Ganga 2 (2019) Malayalam Movie Review – Veeyen

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The one take back that the film does offer is courtesy Berny Ignatious and  the very beautiful number ‘Puthumazhayayi Vannu Nee’ from the original film is played yet again in the sequel.  The rest of it is however, just a misaligned combo of horror tropes that lie scattered all over the place.


With any number of trite horror moments scattered all over it, Vinayan’s ‘Akasha Ganga 2’ is infested with plenty of jump scares that at the end of the day, hardly matter. We remain listless through most of what goes on in it, and the core reason behind it is the lack of a solid story or rationale to back it all up.

As ironic as it might sound, the hunt for the rationale does remain pivotal in even the most irrational of tales, and it is here that ‘Akasha Ganga 2’ scores pretty low. This film could have done tons better even with a concrete tale that is replete with ifs and buts, and bereft of it, it turns out to be nothing more than a series of empty wails that get lost in the fast blowing winds.

A sequel to a horror tale that has had a decent run at the box office, ‘Akasha Ganga 2’ hands over the fright baton to Arathi Verma (Veena Nair), daughter of Maya (Divya Unni) who had had a close shave with the devil a few decades back. Apparently Maya had passed away during child birth, and Arathi has grown up into a big girl busy pursuing her studies in medicine.

It doesn’t take long before the curious cat in Arathi leaps out of the sack and the girl pays a visit to the almost abandoned family temple and throws open a few chests. Turns out that she sets much more than the family portrait of Ganga (Mayoori) hanging on the wall in motion, and nor much later a series of weird happenings start shaking the ground around.

Things could get pretty bizarre out there, especially in horror scenarios as this, but ‘Akasha Ganga 2’ stretches things a bit too much with a scene set in the medical college where a cadaver that has laid out for dissection springs to life and creates a commotion. It isn’t really clear if terror or humour was the intent, and in either case, it is hardly realized.

There is no end to the stale instances that follow, and almost every done to death strategy is reattempted. There is the black cat that screeches non-stop, the old woman who disappears as mysteriously as she had appeared, the bats that fly around rustling up a storm of dry leaves and the paper sheets that get blown about  in a gust of wind.

Vinayan also brings in elements of witchcraft and voodoo by letting Soumini Devi (Remya Krishnan) into the narrative, and Arathi is taken to the former’s Ashram  where the finale is all set. The spirit that has invaded Arathi’s self screams and yelps, before agreeing to leave her alone. And ‘Akasha Ganga 2’ moves to a predictable close.

The performances from the young cast are real good, and they give in their very best to what has been offered. Veena is quite good and does a very decent job, especially in the climax, where as Vishnu Vinay who plays her love interest Gopi, comes up with a believable feat as well. There are staunch supporting performances from actors as Remya Krishnan, Riyas, Vishnu Govind, Senthil Krishna, Praveena, Dharmajan, Tesni Khan, Sreenath Bhasi and  Hareesh Peradi, to mention a few. The special effects leave a lot to be desired and the technicalities are adequate at best, except for the brilliantly designed title cards.

The one take back that the film does offer is courtesy Berny Ignatious and  the very beautiful number ‘Puthumazhayayi Vannu Nee’ from the original film is played yet again in the sequel.  The rest of it is however, just a misaligned combo of horror tropes that lie scattered all over the place.


Verdict: Cheesy Horror Fest