Vishwaroop 2, the Hindi version of the Tamil Vishwaroopam II, and a follow-up to 2013's Vishwaroopam/Vishwaroop, continues the story of RAW agent Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri (Kamal Haasan) and his fight against Al Qaeda terrorist Omar (Rahul Bose).

What a lovely decision to cast Waheeda Rahman, in Vishwaroopam 2, as the mother of Kamal Haasan's character! You can just see it - one actor known for graceful dance begetting the other. They're bonded over generations of cinema - but there's more. If you recall the first part, RAW agent Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri (Kamal) refers to India as his mother, and this mother - his real mother - lives in New Delhi, the country's capital, and she has Alzheimer's, so she doesn't recognise her son.

The long-awaited follow-up to 2014's Vishwaroopam (Hindi title: Vishwaroop 2) is an empty shell. As tiresome as the first part was exhilarating, it is an incoherent muddle that is not even middling in terms of quality. Sexagenarian superstar Kamal Haasan, also the writer and director of this bloated mess, clearly used up all his ammo in the first go. Vishwaroop 2 is left working with low-yield leftovers.

We have seen Kamal Haasan speaking at rallies and sharing his political ideology on social media. The actor is forceful and committed as he embraces his new career. However, as we sat down to watch Vishwaroopam 2, which sees Kamal return as an undercover agent who fought terror with as much dexterity as prejudice, we would have preferred to see him as an actor first.

Kamal Haasan was embroiled in a whirlwind of emotions back in 2013 during the release of his pet project Vishwaroopam. The film, as we all know, was banned in Tamil Nadu by the then-Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who feared violence upon its release.

Vishwaroopam 2 is Kamal Haasan's first release after his plunge into politics, but that's not a detail you're likely to forget once you step into this film. Even before the opening credits start rolling, we're shown a montage of Kamal, the politician announcing this entry and the setting up of his party, the Makkal Needhi Mayyam.

If Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam 2 is to be one of his last films before he plunges full time into politics, it is, by no means, anywhere close to being a vote clincher. Haasan, who has written and directed the latest thriller - hardly thrilling though - has managed to produce a messy, often incoherent movie, the only motive of which is to further his political journey (or so it appears), which began some months ago.

The derring-do doings of RAW agent Major Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri aka Vis were mostly entertaining in a comic-book way in Vishwaroopam part one. Part 2, sadly, is an incoherent mess. It opens with a battered, stitched-up Vis (Kamal) being transported in an airplane with two familiar lovelies Nirupama (Kumar) and Ashmita (Jeremiah) on either side.

Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam 2 hits the theatres today. The film has parts of Wisam Ahmad's (Kamal Haasan) past history and how he finally manages to finish off his arch enemy, the dreaded Omar Qureshi. The film is shot in London and New Delhi. The second film comes five years after the release of the first one, which created a lot of controversies.

In 2013 Kamal Haasan came out with a film that is still etched in the mind of the die-hard action-thriller lovers. It was never an overstatement to say that Vishwaroopam was one of the best intelligence-drama Indian cinema has ever churned out. After half a decade, a sequel is announced which creates enough noise on the social media among the cinephiles. However, Vishwaroopam 2 or Vishwaroop 2 misses appallingly to hit the bull's eye; failing to live up to its expectations.

In 2013, Kamal Haasan had played RAW agent Wisam Ahmed Kashmiri, India's answer to James Bond in spy thriller Vishwaroopam, a film which was praised back then for its content and years later, Kamal is back with the sequel Vishwaroopam 2.

More than the bombs that are defused before they go bang and the inept Islamist terrorists who flub every opportunity that comes their way, this, then, is the real cause of the anguish faced by the millions who have admired the work Haasan has produced over his rich, lengthy career: that he would choose a damp squib for his staggered exit for another, bigger, stage, rather than departing amidst glorious fireworks.

A prequel as well as sequel to the events that transpired in Vishwaroop (2013), this film continues the story of Indian spy Wisam (Kamal Hassan) and his crusade against Al Qaeda terrorist Omar (Rahul Bose). This time, Omar and his henchmen are out to exact revenge from Wisam and his friends, while planning bomb threats in London and Delhi.

When Kamal Haasan is good, he is so good that he has the ability to transport the viewer to another realm. From a boy in a forbidden relationship in K Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal (1975) to the country bumpkin in love with the only educated girl in his village in Bharathiraja's 16 Vayathinile (1977), and the bitter, brooding, idealistic unemployed youth whose scintillating chemistry with the great Sridevi scorched the screen in Balachander's Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu (1980), over the years he has invested himself in some wonderful roles in wonderful films