Review: The Second Case picks up after the events of HIT: The First Case, which had featured Vishwak Sen as Vikram Rudraraju. The story shifts from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh and a new case is taken up by HIT. Something much more intriguing than the ‘first case’ is naturally expected but unfortunately in ‘second case’ one gets a mixed bag from the start.

Krishna Dev aka KD (Adivi Sesh) is an SP in HIT (Homicide Intervention Team) in the sleepy city of Visakhapatnam. The only crimes for him to solve are of family squabbles resulting in murders. So much so that KD even uses the term kodi burralu to describe these criminals who don’t challenge him intellectually in the least. At home, he finds domesticity with his girlfriend, a boutique owner called Aarya (Meenakshi Chaudhary) and his adorable dog Max. Things soon change and KD is forced to sit up and take notice. A girl is chopped into pieces and her body is displayed gruesomely. There are numerous clues and red herrings he must decode to get to the bottom of it.

 The Second Case is neatly divided into two parts in a span of two hours – the set up and the pay-off. It’s unfortunate that some of the best parts of the set up are revealed in the trailer (so it’s best to skip that if you haven’t seen it already). As a result, you wait for new information to pop up on screen to take you by surprise. The film also begins with the story of a man called Ram (Harsha Vardhan) but to reveal anything much about it would be a spoiler.

 KD shares a frictional relationship with his colleague Varsha (Komalee Prasad), a little like Vikram did with Abhilash (Maganti Srinath). DGP Nageswara Rao (Rao Ramesh) is not making things easier either. KD and Aarya’s relationship is also explored through Urike Urike and as cute as it all is, you’re just impatient for things to kick into motion. Things fall into place by the time the second hour of the film rolls around. And if you’ve been paying attention, you can also guess who the killer is. The reveal is more of a fizzle than the bang it’s supposed to be, they don’t go exactly against the grain here.

Adivi Sesh is pretty good at playing KD. The sarcasm and witty one-liners come easily to him. Where Vikram came with nothing but a chaotic energy, KD is the total opposite and level-headed. He does well with what he’s given, especially towards the second hour. Meenakshi is just okay in her role that comes and goes as per convenience. Srinath and Komalee, apart from Rao Ramesh, Tanikella Bharani and others do a good job. Geeta Bhascker is rib-ticklingly funny. MM Srilekha and Suresh Bobbili’s music is good. Garry BH does a good job on the editing, and same with Manikandan in the cinematography.

HIT: The Second Case delivers what it promises when it comes to the gore (it is rated A) but it just doesn’t seem to do anything to take you by surprise and of course, want to watch the next instalment!