Akshay Dogra, drama, India, Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Jaswant Singh, Kumud Mishra, Mehar Deol, movies, Nadeem Khan, Neena Gupta, reviews, Sanjay Mishra, Shilpa Shukla, Vadh, Vadh 2
February 10, 2026
by Carla Hay
Directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu
Hindi with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in India, the dramatic film “Vadh 2” (a stand-alone sequel to the 2022 movie “Vadh”) features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Two prison guards, two women inmates, a prison superintendent and a police inspector are all connected in some way to the disappearance and suspected murder of a dangerous and sadistic male prisoner.
Culture Audience: “Vadh 2” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the 2022 movie “Vadh” and well-acted murder mysteries that have plot twists.
“Vadh 2” is an improvement from 2022’s “Vadh,” by having a more cohesive and more suspenseful murder mystery. Even though Vadh 2 is a stand-alone sequel, this franchise needs to have a more original concept of who the real killers are. Without giving away too many details in this review, “Vadh” and “Vadh 2” repeat a major plot point about who’s responsible for a murder and the cover-up of this murder. Considering that 2022’s “Vadh” and 2026’s “Vadh 2” have completely different characters, this plot point didn’t need to be recycled in “Vadh 2.”
Jaspal Singh Sandhu wrote and directed 2022’s “Vadh” and 2026’s “Vadh 2,” which both take place in India. (“Vadh” means “execution” in Hindi.) “Vadh 2” was filmed in the Indian cities of Bhopal and Mumbai. What might confuse some “Vadh” viewers who see “Vadh 2” is the fact that the two lead characters in both movies have the same first names (Shambhunath and Manju), and the same actors are portraying both of these characters. Sanjay Mishra has the role of Shambhunath. Neena Gupta has the role of Manju.
However, Shambhunath and Manju are completely different people in each movie, which has completely separate plots. That’s why “Vadh 2” is also described as a “spiritual sequel,” because it does not continue the story of “Vadh,” except to re-use one of the “shocking” reveals in this murder mystery. Viewers who know about 2022’s “Vadh” might figure out long before “Vadh 2” ends that “Vadh 2” is going in a similar direction in showing whoever was responsible for the murder and cover-up. “Vadh 2” is less about surprising viewers about who committed the murder and more about surprising viewers about why this murder happened.
“Vadh 2” begins 28 years before the main story take place. A bachelorette in her 20s named Manju Singh (played by Mehar Deol) is on trial for the murders of a married neighbor couple who lived near Manju. Manju, who has steadfastly denied committing these murders, is found guilty and sentenced to 28 years in prison.
The movie then fast-forwards to 28 years later. Manju (played by Gupta) is close to being released from prison. She is in a women’s prison that is near a men’s prison. Because Manju will soon be released from prison, she is in a low-security section where she can sneak outside at night to an area of the prison where she can’t be seen.
It’s soon shown that Manju has been secretly having platonic meet-ups with a widower security guard who works for the men’s prison. His name is Shambhunath Mishra (played by Sanjay Mishra), who is mutually attracted to Manju. (In 2022’s “Vadh,” the characters of Shambhunath and Manju were a longtime married couple.)
On the night of Shambhunath’s 59th birthday, he decides to spend the night talking to Manju. Shambhunath tells her a little bit more about his personal background. He says he’s in debt for the money he borrowed to pay for his son’s college education in the United States. Shambhunath’s son still lives in the United States, is married, and has a daughter named Erika.
However, Shambhunath’s son refuses to visit him in India. Shambhunath’s son is also very ungrateful for Shambhunath paying his college tuition. This is a meta reference to “Vadh,” where married couple Shambhunath and Manju were also in debt because of money they borrowed to pay for the U.S. college tuition of their ungrateful married son, who kept his distance from them as he lived in the United States with his wife and a daughter named Erika.
At the men’s prison, Shambhunath is well-liked by his co-workers. He is the type of colleague who seems to get along with everyone. He is also very observant and doesn’t hesitate to help others. The prison will soon get a new superintendent leader, who plans to instill more discipline and order in the prison. (In India, the leader of a prison is called a superintendent. In the United States, a prison leader is called a warden.)
The new superintendent’s name is Prakash Singh (played by Kumud Mishra, no relation to Sanjay Mishra), who is not related to Manju Singh. Prakash is very stern and is, as someone describes him in the movie, “obsessed with caste.” One of the first things that Prakash asks or wants to know when he meets someone is that person’s caste.
Nadeem Khan has a small supporting role as a junior inspector also named Nadeem Khan, who reports to Prakash. The filmmakers of “Vadh 2” had no way of knowing that after this film was completed in 2025, actor Khan would be arrested in real life for rape in January 2026. One of his domestic employees has accused him of raping her over a 10-year period. Khan has denied the accusations, but it’s ironic that he’s playing a prison employee with the same name as his in this movie.
Meanwhile, at the women’s prison, 22-year-old Naina Kumari (played by Yogita Bihani) is a new inmate who is terrified of being in prison. Naina is vulnerable and sweet-natured. Naina used to work at a bank. She is in prison for embezzlement, which is a crime she says she didn’t commit. Naina tells anyone who’ll listen that her boss really committed the crime, and she was forced to take the blame for her boss.
Because many people in prison claim that they are not guilty of the crimes that sent them to prison, Naina gets a lot of skepticism from other prisoners. However, Manju believes Naina because Manju says she was wrongly convicted too. Manju begins to develop a maternal-like relationship with Naina during the time that Manju has remaining in the prison.
The main prison guard whom Naina and Manju are in contact with is Rajni Sharma (played by Shilpa Shukla), a woman who is in her early 40s. Not much is known about Rajni in the beginning of the movie. However, it’s shown that Rajni seems to give special treatment to certain women at the prison, by personally letting them out at night and then bringing them back to their cells before morning, when more prison employees arrive. Later, it’s revealed that Rajni is a single mother.
Around the same time that Naina starts living at the women’s prison, the men’s prison gets a new inmate: His name is Keshav (played by Akshay Dogra), and he is a cruel and vicious criminal. Keshav is also wealthy and well-connected. He has a high-ranking politician brother named Bhure, who is never seen in the movie, but there are multiple scenes where Keshav is talking to Bhure on the phone.
The men and women of these two prisons are often transported together in the same bus. Manju and Naina were on the same bus when Keshav was being taken to the men’s prison. Naina and Manju see firsthand that Keshav is very controlling, more dangerous than the average criminal, and probably a sociopath who takes pleasure in hurting others.
As already shown in the “Vadh 2” trailer, Keshav is so twisted and savage, he takes a puppy and places it near the wheels of the bus. Keshav then orders the bus driver to start driving, knowing that the puppy will be run over by the bus. The movie doesn’t show the puppy dying, but there are sound effects that make it clear that the puppy did not survive this disgusting act of animal cruelty.
When Keshav arrives at the men’s prison, he thinks he’ll be able to have everyone else under his control. Predictably, Keshav clashes immediately with prison superintendent Prakash, who is not intimidated by Keshav and refuses to let Keshav think that Keshav is in control. Prakash gives the impression that Prakash cannot be corrupted or influenced by a prisoner’s wealth or powerful connections.
One night, Prakash sees Keshav brutally beating an elderly prisoner (played by Jaswant Singh) in a prison courtyard. Prakash intervenes to stop to the beating. Prakash then puts Keshav in solitary confinement as punishment. But to Prakash’s dismay, the next day, Prakash gets a call from his supervisor, who orders Prakash to not only release Keshav from solitary confinement but also to release Keshav from prison entirely.
Prakash’s supervisor says this decision was made due to pressure that Keshav’s politician brother made to “higher authorities” to get Keshav out of prison. Prakash is upset and voices his objection to this decision. Prakash tells his supervisor that releasing Keshav will send the wrong message to other prisoners, and the prison needs to make a punishment example out of Keshav. The supervisor’s response is to warn Prakash that if Prakash doesn’t obey this order, then Keshav’s brother will make a punishment example out of Prakash.
Prakash reluctantly lets Keshav out of prison. Keshav openly gloats in front of Prakash about being set free. On his first night out of prison, Keshav gets drunk with a friend at his house and calls Prakash to taunt him. Prakash gets so angry, he goes over to the house where Keshav is staying and beats him up. This assault is witnessed by Keshav’s friend. The next day, Keshav is reported missing.
The circumstantial evidence points to Prakash, who becomes the prime suspect in Keshav’s disappearance. Prakash admits that he assaulted Keshav on the night that Keshav went missing, but Prakash insists that he had nothing to do with Keshav’s disappearance. Prakash is placed on administrative leave, pending the investigation.
The person leading the police investigation is an inspector named Aleet Singh (played by Amitt K. Singh), a divorcé who has a strong sense of justice and is very methodical in his work. (Aleet Singh, Prakash Singh and Manju Singh are not related to each other.) Much of the second half of “Vadh 2” consists of Aleet conducting interviews until he learns the truth about what happened.
“Vadh 2” benefits from a having a better screenplay than “Vadh,” but the pacing of “Vadh 2” is still a little uneven. The first half of “Vadh 2” tends to drag with some repetition. For example, “Vadh” shows some very mundane scenes of Shambhunath interacting with his co-workers, when these scenes really didn’t need to be in the movie.
Meanwhile, not enough is shown of the blossoming romance between Shambhunath and Manju in “Vadh 2.” Their biggest scene together in the first half of the movie is the nighttime visit that they had with each other on Shambhunath’s 59th birthday. After that scene, Manju mostly disappears from the first half movie, except for scenes where she is seen briefly interacting with some female prisoners, such as Naina. It isn’t until the last half of the film, when secrets start to be revealed, that Manju becomes a prominent character in the story.
Many of these secrets are shown in flashbacks that are somewhat rushed in the last 30 minutes of the movie. In the meantime, Ajeet’s investigation sort of goes along at an occasionally dull pace that adds to the film’s uneven tone. It’s a “slow burn” movie where the most suspense is in the last 30 minutes.
The “Vadh 2” trailer reveals that Shambhunath makes a confession to Ajeet about disposing of Keshav’s body. But Ajeet doesn’t believe Shambhunath because he doesn’t think Shambhunath would have the physical strength do this type of disposal all by himself. Is Shambhunath’s confession fake or real? And if it’s a fake confession, why would he lie about committing this crime?
The performances in “Vadh 2” are sufficient but not extraordinary. In 2022’s “Vadh,” the couple at the center of the story had approximately equal weight given to their pepspectives. By contrast, “Vadh 2” gives much more screen time and more perspective to Shambhunath than to Manju. Therefore, Sanjay Mishra as Shambhunath is given a lot more to do to show his acting range.
Gupta as Manju gives one of the best performances in “Vadh 2,” but she is under-used in the story. The movie doesn’t give enough information to explain how Manju and Shambhunath fell in love with each other. The other principal female characters (Naina and Rajni) are also not in the movie enough, considering how they play roles in the secrets that emerge.
All the male characters in “Vadh 2” are given much more substantial roles in the movie than the female characters. Keshav is the movie’s least-nuanced character (and Dogra gives a performance to match), because Keshav is a stereotypical villain who is so irredeemably and transparently evil, it would be difficult to find any viewers who think he deserves sympathy. The more inscrutable character is Prakash, who is a completely believable character, thanks to Kumud Mishra’s skilled performance.
The immersive cinematography (by Sapan Nurala) and gripping musical score (by Advait Nemlekar) for “Vadh 2” elevate the movie during moments where the “Vadh 2” could have completely languished in monotony. There are some unanswered questions by the end of the movie. Despite some flaws, “Vadh 2” is a solid mystery thriller that borrows heavily from the defining concept of 2022’s “Vadh.” If the “Vadh” movie series wants to remain fresh and innovative, it needs to move on to a new concept about who could be capable of committing murder, hiding dead bodies, and covering up these crimes.
Yash Raj Films released “Vadh 2” in select U.S. cinemas on February 6, 2026, the same date the the movie was released in India.