Pizza II: Villa begins with a flickering light bulb and, a little distance away, a paranormal scientist holding up a tuning fork – he’s looking for… something. Later, in an interview, he reveals that he has never been afraid, and that he is waiting for the day he will experience fear. We think that this man’s wish will come true, that he will regret these words because of the terrifying situation he will find himself in – but that never happens. Or maybe it happens and we don’t register it because the performances in this film don’t add up. Elsewhere, the “clues” (like the decomposing carcass of a dog) don’t add up – we wait for the why behind these happenings, and there are no satisfactory answers. But as a painting teacher instructs his students, early on, the most important thing in an art form is the ambience. Those could be the director Deepan Chakravarthy’s words. What Pizza II: Villa lacks in other departments, it makes up for with mood.
Unlike its in-name-only predecessor, Pizza II: Villa isn’t about a hoax. It isn’t a horror movie either – at least, not in the conventional sense of a narrative that aims to make you jump out of your seat and turn the lights on at night. The film isn’t without the genre’s trusted (and if you stop to think about it, stupid) tropes. Someone in a huge mansion where things are going bump in the night will continue to stay on, instead of moving somewhere safer, and when he finds a room with something terrifying inside, he will continue to investigate these horrors. But the director is after something more elegant, more muted. He doesn’t want so much to scare us as infuse in us a sustained sense of dread. The background score isn’t silence-screams-silence-screams, but long and seemingly unvarying notes and chords that swell, occasionally, into crescendos. The effect is eerie, not scary. Pizza II: Villa, then, is a horror movie for those who don’t particularly care for horror movies.
The story is something that Stephen King might have dreamt up. A struggling crime-novel writer (Ashok Selvan) inherits a villa, and when he moves in his life changes. But even as he revels in the turnaround (a publishing contract; an award), he senses that malevolent forces may be behind it all. (Or maybe the spirit of Kate Mosse is behind it all. One of the author’s bestsellers is seen on a tabletop, and as in that book, there’s a creepy Frenchman here.) An unexpected – and welcome – side-effect of these happenings is that the protagonist is never allowed to become a hero. He is in over his head – as we discover through a tragic murder, forewarned isn’t always forearmed. Evil always has the upper hand. The ending, thus, is inevitable. We sit up expecting a twist, revealed with a flourish, but the understated nature of what actually happens is perhaps the bigger twist. With the tease of a sequel, we may be witnessing a quality franchise in the making.
An edited version of this piece can be found here.
Copyright ©2013 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Rahini David
November 16, 2013
All that is very well. But I thought you did do horror. Occupational Hazards?
LikeLike
Sivasamy
November 16, 2013
I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s a tight gripping tale without any family melodrama.
LikeLike
Iswarya V
November 17, 2013
**SPOILER ALERT**
The twist certainly packed a surprise. The tragic part did carry its weight. But isn’t the “message” somewhat in the same line as the stereotypical misogyny we’re used to? Especially in a movie that says good vs. bad makes no sense in the face of destiny? Pizza-I somehow seemed less judgemental.
LikeLike
brangan
November 18, 2013
Rahini David: Did you mean “didn’t do horror”? But yes, occupational hazards.
Iswarya V: I didn’t see a message in this film, and certainly not a misogynistic one. Care to explain?
LikeLike
Rahini David
November 18, 2013
BR: Well yes. Sorry Typo.
LikeLike
Iswarya V
November 18, 2013
***MORE SPOILERS, UNAVOIDABLY***
BR: OK, I guess I was responding to some of the after-the-show comments in theatre like “Kadasila, indha ponnungallaam ivlo dhaan machan” as much as the movie itself. And that’s why I put the word ‘message’ in quotes. That impression was probably not the intended message of the movie, but it ended up as the only takeaway from the movie (coming as it did in the end) for quite a number of menfolk in the crowd. (Later on I ask my brother what he felt, and he says he didn’t exactly get the same ‘message’ out of the movie, but then because it was already a truism that girls weren’t generally trustworthy!) So, I guess it’s the personal prism thing that you often speak of, which is at work here.
But yes, for argument’s sake, the movie could have somewhere triggered this response. Consider: there are only two articulate women characters in the movie, and one of them early on advises the other to make an expedient choice with respect to boyfriends. The other is shown as being different from her, only to outdo her mercenary callousness at the end. (The only other woman character I remember is that construction worker’s wife who’s asked to make tea, and she doesn’t speak.)
Not that such portrayal of women is in itself bad on any absolute grounds; we have much worse disservice done to women on screen in the common run of Tamil movies that hit the screen every week. The surprise was that this came as a part of the Pizza franchise. I remember Pizza was one of the least judgemental Tamil movies in recent times. The casual amorality of the earlier movie was so refreshing, that this (intended or not) “oh-woman-you-will-pay-for-this” hint at the end here seemed just a little jaded.
LikeLike
sridhar270
November 19, 2013
** SPOILER ALERT **
I think Iswarya is right. The scenes immediately after Aarti refusing to give her phone seem (maybe, subconsciously?) to show her mercenary nature. And, it stands out even more so considering the previous scene was of Jebin sacrificing himself for his love AND his acceptance/admiration for Aarti’s love for him.
Or it could just be over-analysis.
But somehow, I think not.
LikeLike
Rahini David
November 19, 2013
Iswarya: Misogyny runs deep in tamil movies and has become more pronounced of late. This is irrefutable. But the reason is clear and is very similar to the masala vs non-masala movies that is discussed in the “Playing the Market” Article nearby. Men watch more movies than women. If we consider only those who watch in theaters then the percentage of men is quite significantly higher. And moviemakers tell these stories from the male POV. They make or break these movies. We don’t. I do understand that you watched this in the theatre with your brother. But in general we do find men spending almost all friday nights in the theatres of their choice and the women waiting for word of mouth and considering a matinee show on a sunday if at all they decide to go.
Male POV should not be synonymous to misogyny. But often it is. They also seem completely oblivious to it.
BTW, I didn’t watch either of the PIZZAs. Just saying.
LikeLike
Vijayakumar
November 19, 2013
I agree that the understated way the scenes unfold and the haunting BGM give us a eerie feel and elevates the mood of the film. This is definitely some good film-making, technically speaking. However aren’t there other aspects in a movie that also should be good? like acting? I do not remember the name of this friend character who loses his legs, but his acting was terrible to say the least. What was more annoying was the way they threw high school jargon at us like ‘J.J.Thomson effect’, ‘tuning fork’ etc. with the hope of sounding a little more sophisticated. I don’t know if its just me but I could not but laugh when that parapsychologist said ‘Energy can neither be created nor destroyed’.
LikeLike
Iswarya V
November 19, 2013
Rahini: Incidentally, I did catch this only on a Sunday matinee, having heard from a couple of people that it was fairly good. Of course, my expectations had been inflated a little because I enjoyed Pizza-I a lot. My annoyance with the movie, however, was not simply about the misogyny. I mean, it’s pretty pointless to go on a march saying no woman should be portrayed in a bad light. The real irritations stems from the fact that it is done in a stereotypically bad way. Why is it that women, in order to be bad, have to be necessarily afflicted with the traditionally female vices all the time (being jealous/possessive/mercenary/snobbish)? Why can’t they be a little more out-of-the-box evil?
See, this girl turns out in the climax to be just another modern mercenary girlfriend who ditches her guy once he loses all his property. And this happens to be the BIG TWIST. I mean, isn’t that plain laziness? If only the makers had gone out to do something much more surprising like in the prequel, it would have made the movie so much more riveting. I mean, if this woman (decided that she had to have a negative role) had been shown as a say, psychopathic serial killer who had landed her boyfriend in the unenviable position that he finds himself in? Wouldn’t that be a legitimate twist as well? How annoying it is that you have to fall back on an idea that closely echoes the “white-skin-black-heart-girl” stereotype!
Talking about this to another friend, I discovered there isn’t a single Tamil movie I can recollect that had a woman serial killer in it. Except, of course, the old “Neeya” franchise where the heroine was a snake-woman after all! I mean, I’m just curious! Is there no chance of seeing a woman on screen being a serial killer (psychopath or otherwise) without any supernatural baggage or an elaborate revenge motive? (My friend reminded me of two other painful instances of revenge-driven killer-women in Tamil movies: one was Tabu in “Snehithiye” and the other was Priyanka Trivedi in that all-time-blight “Raajjiyam”!)
Vijayakumar: Oh, the pseudoscience of these movies! I guess this movie provided us all with a lot of unintentional humour in its science-talk after a long time. (To be precise, after 7-aum Arivu, this is the one movie where science lessons sounded like so much fun!) That line “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed,” as you say, had my gang in splits.
LikeLike
KP
November 19, 2013
revenge-driven killer-women – Silk Smitha in Andru Peitha malaiyil? there was the hindi derivative which had Radhika playing Rekha’s role.
-KP
LikeLike
dinakaranonline
November 19, 2013
Loved the movie , agree with most of your observation ! Superbly done 🙂
LikeLike
Rahini David
November 20, 2013
Iswarya: Not a huge fan of either horror or serial killing spree movies and can’t go into a discussion on this. But you did give me a point to think about. Thanks.
Vijayakumar: Thanks for sharing “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed”. If anything can induce me to sit through this movie. This line can.
LikeLike
dinakaran
November 20, 2013
Did any one watch the movie in Dolby Atmos ? Was the experience any different in terms of sound design and re-recording that made way for great impact ?
**Spoiler Alert***
-As i watched the movie unfolded, especially the initial scenes at church burial ground , I wondered why horror movies is always centered around characters around Christianity – why not the central character be a Hindi or Muslim ? Is it because Christian folklore discussed and explored Satan and these type of black magic , witchcraft more ? Or may be it’s influence from west ? Would there be a horror film that centered around a hero visiting Vadapalani Murugan kovil ?
-Hero driving an expensive petrol Honda Accord which makes it pretty clear that he is not broke totally but he coming from a well to do family but suffering setbacks of late. He also eats a burger.
-I loved the way how the movie made me question why and then offered answers for most part in subsequent scenes like ‘why father didn’t talk about house ‘ ,’ why master plan was showed by the lawyer’ , ‘why is that villa styled so differently that is not Indian’ etc.
-Loved back story of French man building that villa matching in reality with French people settling in Pondicherry and villa very near to light house because they came in ships and settled near the shores?
-Graphics was also used to minimal which is welcome relief since they are Achilles Heel for low budget movies like this but made sure the mood and eeriness was totally felt.
-Creative explanation in name of science at places ! some facts that are downright laugh worthy. Interestingly they gave reasons for superstitions in Hindu temples alone , are there any equivalent in other religions as well ? I have heard about positive energy stuff at temples before but not sure if there are scientific proofs to support it. Whole theatre was lolwut when the researcher uttered Netwon’s law abt – ‘Energy can neither be created nor destroyed’ 🙂
-Towards end,i felt character of Aarthi to be rushed up,she seems to be desperately reaching for Jebin and upon reaching , turns cold immediately. Strange !
LikeLike
brangan
November 20, 2013
Iswarya V/sridhar270: I love your theory of out-of-the-box evil 🙂 But that would have made *her* a bit of a central figure, whereas this way, her “amorality” is a bit of a side story. It didn’t bother me a great deal because this film is about the house. Of course, it would be nice if characters like these were balanced by strong, good-natured women, but then –as Rahini David says — Tamil-cinema directors (with the exception of the usual suspects like Mani Ratnam or Gautham Menon) don’t seem to think like that at all. The woman is the love interest or object of ridicule, the shrew who must be tamed.
Vijayakumar: Yes, the acting should have been better, but again, this being a horror film, it was *that* big a deal-breaker for me.
KP: “Andru Peidha Mazhayil” was a remake of “Fatal Attraction,” no? She wasn’t a killer there, exactly. More like a wronged woman who kind of loses her mind… Even “Thendral Sudum” is not exactly about a “killer woman.” Again, a wronged woman who metes out justice.
dinakaran: I watched it in Dolby Atmos. Sounded good — though to tell you if it was any different, I’d have to see it in a regular theatre, and that’s not happening 🙂
Hindu horror has happened earlier. “Yaar.” “Pillai Nila.” Etc.
The ending felt rushed to me. I wish they’d laid out her character a little more so that we’d had time to absorb the reality of what she did.
LikeLike
nivazr
November 22, 2013
This is Mine 😉
A Sequel to a movie only by its name alone is completely never achieved in our film industry but the objective has been accomplished now and that is what Villa is. This is completely different from Pizza and here it’s all serious business.
Villa is all about an infamous and broken wannabe writer who came to know about his father’s secret asset, a villa only after his dad’s death. When he steps in to the villa, his every single wish came true but what he doesn’t know is that all of them are pre-defined and this where the mind games begins.
First things first, Never ever keep Pizza in your mind when you walk in to the theater coz it’s just a second product from a brand but completely a different one. The movie begins with some intro sequences for the characters but after five minutes it gains jet power and rushes towards the interval without any halt. The director attempts a new type of horrifying moments and was well supported by the CG department precisely in the intermission block.
Ashok was apt for the role and he pulls out fear, anger and disappointment easily, he graces the role nicely. Sanchita Shetty did her part well as his GF and the rest of the characters did their best. The movie is a wholesome package of brilliant technical team be it the Music or Art or Editing or Cinematography, its pure bliss, kudos to all of them. Santhosh Narayan’s background score and Deepak’s Cinematography will take you to the situation and gives you the thrilling feel.
The movie slightly defines our ancestor’s thoughts and practice on negative energy which is indeed a new concept but the power required for all these horrifying sequences are not powerful enough. It slightly gives a déjà vu feel on ‘7am arivu’. The unstoppable speed of the first half gets reduced in the second half and this where the screenplay drags a little. The director is confused slightly on differentiating the memories and the ghost.
After all these hurdles, the director bounce back in the climax which is really done well, with the runtime of crispy 142 minutes this pizza is also hot enough.
Verdict – Innovative Story with brilliant technical side, definitely worthy for one time.
LikeLike
nivazr
November 22, 2013
To Bharadwaj Rangan sir, is it odd not to use any actors or technical ppl name in a review, i hardly found their names in ur review.. can u clarify pls ?? 🙂
LikeLike