Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh - Film Review

December 05, 2016 Entertainment , Movie Reviews. 3 Comments

What: Film Review

Name of the Film: Kahaani 2

Starring: Vidya Balan, Naisha Khanna, Jugal Hansraj, Arjun Rampal and Kharaj Mukherjee

Directed by: Sujoy Ghosh

Music: Clinton Cerejo

Trailer rating: 4/5
Film Rating: 3.5/5
Performances: 4/5

Review and Rating: Read more to know more

There are very few films that I go to watch at theatres on Sunday evenings. Kahaani 2 is one among them. Not that I have anything against watching films on weekend evenings. It is an austerity that demands to not waste hard earned money on illogically expensive weekend screenings at multiplexes. 

Call it an effect of this fantastic combo of Sujoy Ghosh + Vidya Balan in Kahaani frame, that tempted me enough to cancel my shopping plans and rather book tickets for the evening show or the joy of watching Jugal Hansraj back on screen after long. We booked ourselves tickets for the latest available shows and sank inside the comfortable seats at Cinepolis Mumbai to watch the story unfold.

Unlike Kahaani 1, we went to this franchise with great expectations. I am not sure whether it lived up to expectations or not, Kahaani too was indeed an engaging and must watch thriller and, am glad that we chose it over Dear Zindagi [Yet to watch] and Moana [Soon to watch]

Kahaani 2

Story: It is a story of a single mother who is living with her half paralysed daughter in a bid to get her treated and back on the limbs. Vidya is a doting mother who is saving every penny to get her daughter treated at the New York Children's Hospital in spite of any hope shown by her erstwhile doctors. Vidya' world comes to a standstill when she finds her daughter Mini being kidnapped by unknown people, who summons her to meet her daughter one last time. She rushes to the said address but meets with an unfortunate road accident and goes into a temporary coma, landing in a hospital that refuses to take her treatment expenditure more than 2 days. 

The hospital registers the case at the local police station in a bid to find her caretakers, only to get her case lapped by a newly transferred Policemen who had an old skeleton at Vidya's closet and takes utmost interest to find the truth behind Vidya's Wanted story.

As the movie unfold, you learn about Durga Rani Singh, her trials and tribulations with little Mini Dewan and her hideous family in Kalimpong. Would Vidya be able to get up from her coma and save her daughter? Will Inderjeet find the real Durga Rani Singh and get her to justice for the crime she committed? These are the questions that you will get answered in the 2nd half of the film.

Review & Numerounity's take

The movie is a suspense thriller and does a good job with its genre especially in the first half.

The first half of the film is taut, gripping and on the edge thriller making you ache to know more. It is an out an out Vidya Balan's film, done mostly in her narratives and flashback.

Everything that starts well need not ends well too. This phrase is lived by the second half of the film that loses all the strong pitch that it created in the first half and becomes highly predictable. The story loses the fizz and pulps into losing transition of Bollywood heroic tales and over an exaggerated narrative. 

Arjun Rampal looks good on screen and had an equally meatier role in the film to play. He plays his part well without trying to escape his usual star swag that made his character looked more like Arjun Rampal than Inder. Guess that is very typical of Bollywood wherein you would rarely see leading actors looking less like the characters they are playing. It is the same curse that was apparent in this role while the leading lady did every bit to look her character. Casting Arjun Rampal as Inderjeet was a bad idea as he could not resist being Arjun Rampal at times and made the plot esp the superhuman climax even more predictable. The story could have been better with any other actor, read unassuming actor.

I believe a lesser known actor should have cast for the role and he would have done a better justice to the suspense. He gives away half of the plot, effortlessly.

The child actor Naisha Khanna as Mini, looks adorable and does her part extremely well. She is another hero of the film. The third hero of the film is the actor Kharaj Mukherjee who plays the role of Inspector Haldar. He stands out in his small role with his mellifluous delivery and natural onscreen presence.

Other actors like Jugal Hansraj, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Amba Sanyal were good too. Jugal as Mohit Dewan, surprisingly does not let his chocolatey look hamper the darker side of his character and does a neat job.

Barring the first half, the story does become exaggerated at times and that kills the fizz. The climax was super pretentious and predictable. There were some loopholes in the film like Vidya' decision to stay in a quaint little town of Chandan Nagar rather than staying at the farther location and a city where there would be lesser chances to get discovered or the Bob Biswas like assassin walking in and out of hospital without any evidence or scrutiny by the management that was desperately looking for her relatives. The murder plot and the kidnapping motive looked fragile and cinematic. Few changes could have resurrected the story but our guys chose to go the formula way and it shows.

Music by Clinton is good.

Strengths
1) Good Performances by Vidya Balan, Naishi Khanna and Kharaj Mukherji
2) Music
3) Cinematography

Weakness

1) Arjun Rampal
2) Predictable Story

Verdict: Kahaani 2 is nothing like Kahaani. The characters are insipid, the plot is chalky, the screenplay is dull and the thrill is conspicuous by its absence. Except for the story, everything else looks like the leftover from the original Kahaani. It is like encashing a hit formula that worked for Sujoy Ghosh in his earlier film. 

The film had a good plot, good cast/performances, location and songs. However, a loose narrative and a very predictable ending spoil it all towards the end. Vidya Balan, is spontaneous, looks credible and does a good job but in spite of her excellent performance, the poor screenplay at 2nd half loosens the grip and that "thrilling edge" towards the end is somewhat diluted and diminished.

Overall, it still makes for a good watch. Go watch it for good performances by Vidya Balan [ I am loving the fact that she is carving a niche for herself and leading the male dominated industry by doing a better job] Naishi Khanna and an adorable Kharaj Mukherjee. Music and the nostalgic feeling about Kolkata / West Bengal is an added bonus.

My Rating: 3.5/5