MUMBAI : Hindi cinema has a rich and glowing tradition of nail-biting thrillers, replete with incredible twists and turns, right from the 60s till recent times. In fact, if there's one genre that Hindi filmmakers have truly excelled in other than the homebred masala potboilers, it has to be the 'thriller' genre. Heck, Manoj Bajpayee himself has been a part of one such classic in the way of 1999's Kaun, and the first Silence, too, was no slouch. Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout, which arrives 3 years later on the same OTT platform, ZEE5, with much of the original protagonists ergo ACP Avinash Verma aka Bajpayee's team intact, turns out to be that rare sequel that trumps an already worthy predecessor, thereby giving its esteemed leading man another lush feather in his cap.

Prudently jettisoning the whodunit mould of the first Silence, the sequel aims higher, much higher, and boy do Director Aban Bharucha Deohans and his writer, Sunny Sharma, pull it off with the precision of surgeons, weaving an intricate tapestry that's got everything from mass murder to blackmail to underage-sex trafficking to revenge. Looks like the duo never heard of the adage that too many 'cooks spoil the broth' because in this mystery, it's well and truly: 'The more, the merrier', or should I say, 'the more, the murkier'.

As the title suggests, there's a shootout at a bar, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. The trajectory the script takes from thereon leads to one deliciously devious turn after another, where you gladly tag along for the ride and enjoy guessing as one layer is peeled after the next. You won't see most of the twists coming as the narrative leaves you in a vice-like grip from start to finish.

Manoj Bajpayee firmly anchors it all with another sublimely confident act while Prachi Desai truly comes of age in the film, whereas Parul Gulati is the surprise package amongst a well-rounded supporting cast. Even a runtime of nearly 2 hours and 20 minutes doesn't seem stretched for a moment, with the editing and direction surging ahead together like a well-oiled machine.

Barring a questionable background score, some unnecessary backstory of our hero, and a slightly lackluster climax, Silence 2 goes down as a top-notch thriller with a tight-knit script, complete with jaw-dropping twists and some really good acting.

4/5 stars