2.0 is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by S. Shankar. Produced by Subaskaran under the banner of Lyca Productions. As the second installment in the Enthiran franchise, 2.0 is a standalone sequel to Enthiran (2010), featuring Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. Sudhanshu Pandey, Adil Hussain, Kalabhavan Shajohn, and K. Ganesh appear in supporting roles. The film follows the conflict between Chitti, the once dismantled humanoid robot, and Pakshi Rajan, a former ornithologist who seeks vengeance upon cell phone users to prevent avian population decline. The soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Madhan Karky and Na. Muthukumar.
Vaseegaran introduces Nila, his new humanoid robot who is his personal assistant, to a group of students. Shortly thereafter, a student’s smartphone suddenly starts flying, exhibiting avian characteristics. Before long, cell phones all over Chennai begin to fly away, leaving the city in chaos. At an emergency council meeting initiated by the government, Vaseegaran enunciates that it is beyond conventional science to fight what he considers a fifth force, and proposes reinstating Chitti, which was dismantled in 2010. But Dhinendra Bohra, who lost his father to Chitti’s anger, opposes, and the council decides to seek help from the military, thereby vetoing Vaseegaran’s proposal.
The growing stream of cell phones leaves havoc in its path, killing a mobile phone wholesaler Jayanth Kumar, a transmission tower owner Manoj Lulla, and the state’s telecom minister Vaira Moorthy. To prevent further damage, S. Vijay Kumar, the Home Minister, unofficially gives Vaseegaran permission to rebuild Chitti. Chitti traces the mobile phones.
Vaseegaran then learns from Chitti that the bird is powered by the aura of a human being, which exudes negative energy. The radiation from the antennae of such signal transmitters and auras of other living organisms are positively charged while those of the dead are negatively charged, allowing the parabolic transmitters to repel the bird. Had it entered the electromagnetic field produced by the transmitters, the radiation from the antennae would have neutralized the bird, preventing it from reassembling. Vaseegaran replicates a smaller version of those transmitters to destroy the bird. During neutralization, Vaseegaran learns that the negative aura is from Pakshi Rajan.
Pakshi Rajan used to be an ornithologist who owned the now abandoned house where birds would come and live with him. Gradually, high-frequency radiation from the newly set up cell towers starts killing the birds due to the rapid growth of mobile phone industries. Pakshi then visits Jayanth Kumar, Manoj Lulla, and the telecom minister in order to request them to stop their unjust and unlawful activities but it is in vain. He also organizes conferences and protests against the exorbitant use of cell phones but receives no support. Ultimately, all his birds die, and a distraught Pakshi Rajan hangs himself to death from a cell tower. His life energy, along with that of numerous dead birds, combine together to form an aura that manipulates mobile phones into any form through electromagnetic radiation.
Chitti reactivates the transmitters and neutralizes Pakshi, storing his energy in a containment circuit. But jealous of Chitti’s resurgence, Dhinendra sneaks into the AIRD Institute and frees Pakshi’s aura from the containment circuit. The aura enters Vaseegaran, enabling Pakshi Rajan to possess his body and attack humans. Chitti hesitates to kill him, as it would mean killing Vaseegaran too. Taking advantage of this, Pakshi disassembles Chitti.
Nila takes Chitti back to the lab and rebuilds its body, replacing its microchip with the red chip created by Bohra,[a] which results in Chitti’s violent configuration, version 2.0, being in control. Nila constrains it from harming anyone but Pakshi Rajan. Chitti then creates more versions of its likeness. Meanwhile, Pakshi takes over a crowded football stadium and exposes Dhinendra to radiation from the nearby cell towers, incinerating and killing him. Chitti, along with its army of robots, arrives and confronts him, resulting in a battle between the two. However, its battery drains, and it rushes to the nearest power station. During this time, microbots resembling Chitti, called Kutti version 3.0, arrive mounted on white pigeons and confront Pakshi Rajan, who cannot kill the spectators now as it would mean that the pigeons would also get killed. At one point Pakshi’s aura leaves Vaseegaran’s body. The microbots then lead his aura to the signal transmission site, where Pakshi Rajan is eliminated. Vaseegaran recovers in the hospital and tells Vijay Kumar, who comes to see him, that he feels Pakshi Rajan was a virtuous person who became a victim of the corrupt society. He also suggests that everyone should limit the use of phones, and conserve the lives of birds as much as possible. Chitti, now restored to its original version, begins a relationship with Nila, to which Vaseegaran gives his consent.
In a post-credits scene, Sana asks Vaseegaran over the phone about the probability of mobile phones flying again. Immediately, Vaseegaran’s mobile flies out of his hand and morphs into Kutti 3.0, saying, “I am your grandson”.
Directed by Shankar
Produced by A. Subaskaran
Written by Shankar, B. Jeyamohan, Madhan Karky (Dialogues)
Screenplay by Shankar
Story by Shankar
Starring Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Music by A. R. Rahman
Cinematography Nirav Shah
Edited by Anthony
Production Lyca Productions
Distributed by Lyca Productions & Dharma Productions
Release date 29 November 2018
Running time 147 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
Visitor Rating: 3 Stars