Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh | Reviews & BO thread - Page 9

Kahaani 2 movie review: Not a mother of all stories

Kahaani 2 review: Vidya Balan delivers in a thriller without thrills

'Kahaani 2' - Movie Review

'Kahaani 2'
U/A; Crime, Thriller
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Actors: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal
Rating:

The uniformly dark, grim and grainy texture of this film, and a slightly pacey background score kicking in right from the first scene, provides you an adequate sense of anticipation, soon as you block your seat in the theatre.

And I don't mean this in a 'Run Lola Run' music-video kinda way. But more like, as an audience, you perennially wish to know what happens next. So the set-up is sorted. Which, given this film's genre (a suspense-thriller), is half the battle won anyway.

The other half being the pay-off, or twist, or kahaani (story), as it were. And even if some people may have several problems, and far too many question marks hanging in their head, over what lies beneath (I certainly did), there's the inherent issue with writing about a film like this. Well, you simply cannot discuss/write about them. It'll kill the fun for everyone else.

Suffice it to know, for background's sake"as with Sujoy Ghosh's 'Kahaani' (this franchise's sleeper-hit prequel), there is a woman in search of something. In the first part, it was her missing husband. Here, it's her missing, wheelchair borne daughter. The woman, who we're not sure is Vidya Sinha as she claims to be, or Durga Rani Singh, whose identity she's perhaps concealing, meets with an accident, and is in coma. A cop, much invested in the case, investigates from here on.

How is he ever going to find out anything in such a situation? How about a tell-all diary, yo! Frankly I haven't quite ever understood this business of maintaining a diary. What kinda person reveals their deepest, darkest secrets, and practically everything they'd want no one to know via journal entries in a book, just so someone can discover and regale in it some day? It is nevertheless a fine and simple device to get into flashbacks of stories, in films for sure.

It certainly lends much depth to the character of Vidya/Durga. Vidya Balan plays this central role. Yup, she's been going through a downtime at the movies lately. Frankly I'm just intrigued by the idea of Vidya. In some ways, her personal journey is a Mumbai version of Shah Rukh Khan's"urban, educated middle-class (from Chembur), studied at Xavier's, climbed up the ladder from television to films, and basically cracked the latter by being smart with choice of roles, becoming possibly the only female star at the turn of this decade, with 'The Dirty Picture' (2011), 'No One Killed Jessica' (2011), and 'Kahaani' (2012), of course.

You can tell there's much at stake for her here. And? Well, devastated, pared down to the skin, she totally frickin' champions this robust part. Arjun Rampal as the under-stated cop is surprisingly competent as well.

So what do we have here? A thriller set in a sleepy town called Chandannagar, off Kolkata"effectively capturing the Bong milieu; art-directed, and shot like a slightly dystopian dream. A mystery that unravels by the minute, without a moment to pause for breath, much less blink, which is saying a whole lot for a movie that's still 2 hours plus.

How do I put it better than a fellow passenger in my lift who went, "Picture baandhke rakhti hai," which is Hindi for "keeps you glued to your seat." Visually, both seem terrible situations to be in. In the context of this film, terrific!

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/kahaani-2-movie-review-durga-rani-singh-vidya-balan-arjun-rampal-bollywood-film-review/17801151

Review: Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani 2

Sujoy Ghosh knows flavour. Few directors are as adept at creating atmosphere so swiftly and effectively, and Ghosh soaks his cinema in a seemingly authentic world. Authentic smelling, even, given the way his new film shows us Vidya Balan shielding her nose before entering a humid crowd, and the stains of sweat around her armpits as she scampers breathlessly through a rundown government office, fanning herself before her world falls completely to pieces.

Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh is many things at once " a mystery, a drama about identity, a slowburn thriller, a public service admonishment " but it is primarily, well, Bengali. The first Kahaani, set in Calcutta, featured its fair share of Bangla, but this one is in a different league. Some characters speak entirely in Bangla without subtitles (Ghosh judiciously uses words that sound the same, only minus o-sounds, in Hindi), while others say wondrous things like "Gyarah baje nagaad" where Eleven O'Clock is said in Hindi but rounded off with that lethargic Bangla word for thereabouts', which could make it mean absolutely anything. Poetic, really.

If Hindi cinema is an arrowroot biscuit and Bengaliness the cha it is dipped into, Ghosh's biscuit teeters perilously on the edge of collapse. Yet, with the expertise of a lifelong double-dunker, the filmmaker pulls it out intact.

It is the dexterity with which Ghosh uses his tools " Bangla, Balan and Bengal " that draws us in as the film starts, before the plot unspools and we're plunged into a dark thriller. There is a kidnapping, there is a flashback, there is a conveniently detailed diary entry, and there is a brooding cop who looks like he hasn't slept in months even after we actually see him sleep. It is all gripping stuff " engaging, at any rate " though Ghosh clearly has more fun colouring outside the margins, outside the plot itself. My favourite moment in the film is a mad-eyed beggar laughingly threatening a cop with jail.

With a fine ensemble and solid textural detailing, the film holds our interest as it motors ahead but, like a flimsily glued house of cards, the plot falls apart the moment we think about it. Ghosh's grip gets far looser post-intermission, when the film falls into predictability " even inevitability " and the villains are exposed as pantomime caricatures whose motivations are contrived and overdone. One character, for instance, exists only to pay tribute to Kill Bill's Elle Driver.

It doesn't help that the details appear more loaded with meaning than they are. There is a scene in which Vidya Balan's character, who we have so far only seen conversing in Hindi, speaks first in fluent Nepali and then restlessly taps her fingernail in what sounds like morse code. We are aware that this character, Durga Rani Singh, has a history and there are many hints to that " is she supercop, assassin on the run, escaped mental patient who is now creepily fixated on one particular child in a schoolful of them? " but none of it emerges, or appears to matter.

Later, during a dramatic showdown when a wife discovers a massive revelation about her husband, he behaves as if he's broken a wineglass and she should be less upset. "Come on, yaar," he tells her, cutely chiding her for crying.

Balan, with tremendous commitment to the part, gives us a stirring performance free of vanity or obviousness. She is obviously a gifted performer, but her biggest strength as an actress may well be her knack for winning the audience over; when she gasps, we gasp. The supporting actors are impressive " particularly Kharaj Mukherjee as an all-knowing ignoramus cop memorably called Haldar, Manini Chadha as an attractive policeman's horny wife, and an actor known for innocence playing far from type " but the big twist in Kahaani 2 is a striking performance from Arjun Rampal.

Dry, weary and laconic, Rampal plays the investigating policeman and manages to look both hangdog and dignified at once, walking through the film with the gait of a once-fit stud who doesn't now bother about promotions or pasture. It's a clean and internalised performance, and Rampal " who was also the best thing in Rock On 2 a couple of weeks ago " deserves a hand.

Set in Calcutta, Chandan Nagar and Kalimpong, Kahaani 2 has the bones of a fine thriller, and I enjoyed Tapan Basu's murky cinematography, shadowy and quick, leaving a lot of the actual action to our imagination. The idea of a woman refusing to let the truth die is compelling, and Balan is perfectly cast in the lead. Yet the film ultimately rings hollow. Ghosh throws in too much red herring bhaaja and, teasing twists that could have given us some final drama, shies away from a satisfying finish.

There is a fine beat early in the film where Rampal asks a cop for a file to record evidence in, and is told by a very amused subordinate that nothing ever happens in Chandan Nagar. That is perhaps what we should remember while eagerly waiting for cleverness and sleight of hand from Ghosh's lovely, well-acted but vacant film. Forget it, Jake, it's Chandan Nagar.

Rating: 3 stars

KAHAANI 2: DURGA RANI SINGH

Direction: Sujoy Ghosh

Actors: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Jugal Hansraj

Rating: 3 / 5

The first thing you should know about Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh is that the film has nothing to do with Kahaani, the movie that came out four years ago. The story and characters are unrelated. So why is this one called Kahaani 2? Sujoy Ghosh, who wrote and directed both films, described Kahaani as a genre, a genre about strong women-oriented narratives.

Another descriptor might be thrillers set in and around Kolkata, starring Vidya Balan as an unlikely superhero. She powers both films, making even the most illogical scenes convincing. And, of course, her characters save the day.

In this installment, we first see her as Vidya Sinha, a name inspired by the '70s heroine. Vidya is an overworked single mother who dotes on her physically challenged teenage daughter. Sujoy expertly establishes the rhythms of their relationship and their seemingly ordinary lives. They live in a sleepy, small town near Kolkata. It feels like a safe haven. But then Vidya's daughter Mini suddenly disappears, Vidya is knocked down by a car and we are plunged into the heart of darkness.

The first half of Kahaani 2 is superbly constructed. The story unravels in flashback as sub-inspector Inderjeet Singh reads Vidya's diary. We are introduced to Mini's sinister grandmother and slightly creepy uncle (Amba Sanyal and Jugal Hansraj, both pitch-perfect) and the quietly heroic Arjun Rampal, who adds heft.

Editor Namrata Rao keeps the pace breathless " there isn't a wasted frame or moment. I like to take notes during films but I was so engrossed that I barely wrote anything down.

And then, as happens all too often in Hindi cinema, the curse of the second half strikes. Kahaani 2 becomes pulpy and predictable; the narrative gets looser and less believable. The characters become exaggerated " for me, the final straw was an assassin with a blade. And the storytelling gets so clumsy that you know exactly how things will pan out.

Kahaani 2 feels like a meal that begins with appetisers in a Michelin-star restaurant and ends with dessert in a dhaba. It's unsatisfying.

I still recommend that you see the film " for that killer first-half and for the brilliance of Balan. This might be a flawed franchise, but I'm looking forward to Kahaani 3.