The Audience : “Kya chahiye re tereko?”
Indian movie directors - “DUNIYA…”
KGF: Chapter 2
Director – Prashanth Neel
Cast- ROCKING STAR YASH, Sanjay Dutt as a mix of a Viking
chief and Bane, Raveena Tandon as Pseudo Indira Gandhi, Srinidhi Shetty and BUCKET
LOADS OF HYPE AND ENERGY
We are living in the era of renaissance of Indian cinema. That’s
right Indian cinema. Not Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu or Kannada…but INDIAN
cinema. For long Indian movies have been defined by the word- Bollywood. Not anymore.
Bahubali, Pushpa, KGF, RRR and now KGF 2 have shown us what it takes to make intelligent
yet entertaining films. Technically,
emotionally, they just have cracked this formula of how to actually make epic stories come alive. These films are enjoyed by audiences all over not just India but
also the world as well. In interviews during RRR promotions, director SS Rajamouli
has often said he dislikes the term South Indian film industry or Telugu or
Tamil film industry, he says he likes it to be called Indian film industry
since he tells stories about Indian characters and with Indian values who
primarily speak a regional language. Perhaps same can be said of Kannada
director Prashanth Neel.
KGF 1 was a surprise for everyone. Because of Rajnikanth and
Kamal Hassan, people all over India were well aware of Tamil industry’s ability
to entertain, Bahubali had opened the floodgates for Telugu cinema (though
Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi had done that to smaller extent before), Bengali,
Malayalam and Marathi movies have been admired often for their artistic and subtle
storytelling. Kannada films however had not left a big impact on the national
scale yet. Neither did they air on Set Max or any other channels for popular
consumption, nor did their stars particularly capture national imagination like
their other counterparts did. However, KGF 1 not only surprised the entire
country but surpassed the expectation. The mix of a Scarface like gangster
story coupled with Mad Max and 300 style visuals and good ol’ desi masala
was the perfect cocktail that turned it into a mega hit.
The excitement for KGF 2 was perhaps shot in the arm by the Covid
pandemic and the resulting delay in its release. In fact, it was so delayed
that another movie about a fearless, bearded, ambitious smuggler released in
between and took the nation by storm (Pushpa – The Rise). But just like Rocky
Bhai, the hype came back. And Holy shit…being born into a film crazy family, I
always used to ask my father how it was to experience the hype when Amitabh was
in his prime and he said… it was madness. I had tried to experience that by
watching Vijay and Rajnikanth movies FDFS with Tamil audiences when in Mumbai
and got a taste of it. I got a taste of it when Salman was actually making fun
movies like Dabanng and Wanted. But Holy shit…(coz one Holy shit isn’t enough
to describe this)….the excitement surrounding KGF 2 had the theatre full at 8:30
on a Thursday morning. There was so much hooting, whistling and shouting that you
couldn’t hear anything for the first 10 minutes!! And I had ZERO complaints. I
mean THIS is the experience you wanna have when you watch a movie full of hype
and energy like this. KGF 2 delivers on the hype in truckloads.
In KGF 1 we saw the rise of Rocky Bhai from a small-time
street criminal to a gangster and then to a monster…who had managed to gain
control of the secretive KGF gold mines singlehandedly. KGF 2 is obviously the
conclusion to that story. Now overall, it goes as you would assume a movie like
this goes. But a great man once said- its not about the story, its about how it’s
told. KGF 1 smartly used an unreliable narrator device in which a old, senile
journalist – Anand Ingalgi (played by Anant Nag) is telling the legend of
Rocky and KGF to a TV journalist….often missing parts, often embellishing it, drifting
off. This proved to be a fascinating element that kept the mystery going. The
story on-screen told by Director Prashanth Neel was told with panache, jump
cuts, slo-mo and mind- blowing background music. The movie made Yash a national
star overnight. With his presence so manly that had ladies drooling over him
and men wanting to be a bearded badass like him.
In KGF 2, Prakash Raj replaces Ananth Nag as the
narrator. The in-film reason we get is that Ananthh Nag’s character gets a
heart attack and Prakash Raj is his disgruntled son who comes in reluctantly to
complete the story. The
movie changes its story-telling technique here and becomes a sort of hidden
history of India often made believable by newspapers reports of incidents which
were covered up. Because the powers that were did not want Rocky’s story told.
As two-part movies usually go, the first one is the set-up, the second one the punchline.
Chapter 2 punches you so hard emotionally and visually it gets you pumped up throughout
the movie. The many pieces set up on the board in the first one (a bit too many
to be honest) all start moving for the king in this one from the word go. The
movie does not waste time at all. Every frame of the movie is oozing with
energy, emotion and hype. Every line of dialogue delivered just to add to that legend,
the myth, the saga of Rocky.
The movie elevates itself slightly from making a tale about
a hero who is a God to his people into the evils of unchained ambition and the
consequences of violence. But sadly, to its detriment it sligthly loses that
point somewhere. Without spoiling much, it can be said that this strong
emotional thread could’ve given the movie more nuance and weight. It also would’ve
given actress Srinidhi Shetty something else to do than just stand around and
look good. She is somewhere the feminine that can compliment and counter the
untethered masculine aggression of Rocky…but sadly the script compresses that
entire arc into a completely boring and unnecessary song in the second half of
the movie just prior to the climactic struggle. The movie just loses a bit of
focus here unlike the first one.
But what it lacks in focus sometimes, it makes for in action
and visuals. Prashanth Neel uses color, contrast and shot composition in a
great way in that every frame is a painting. The lighting is immaculate and the
use of jump cuts and shaky cam (though a bit too much for my liking) was great
and makes the action kinetic. Yash being the star of the movie- completely
carries the movie. The ruthless ambition-knowing full well that these violent delights
have violent ends- shines through his body language and his eyes. What could’ve
been a typical Indian indestructible hero kinda boring character is compensated
for by his charming humor and the big Daddy attitude. A good hero is nothing
without a good villain and Sanjay Dutt again delivers by the truckload as
Adheera. With his Viking inspired look, the script allows to portray all shades
from evil to rage to defeat to disappointment to being a sword carrying badass.
Raveena Tandon as Prime Minister Ramika Sen is great and her interaction with Rocky
is particularly good. Its great to see her back and she should do more roles in
my opinion. The movie has Prakash Raj but other than that deep voice, there’s
not much use for him.
Although a slight bit more bloated than the first one, KGF
chapter 2 is definitely a theatre experience. Think of it like the Infinity War
and Endgame. While Infinity War is clearly the better movie, Endgame is still
an epic conclusion. But unlike Endgame the movie does deliver on its hype.
There is a scene towards the climax where I was praying – Mr. Neel you better bring
that reference back from the 1st one because that would symbolically
tie up the story perfectly and you know what…it actually happened. This is the
equivalent of you wanting a masseuse to use the right amount of pressure on the
right spot and without saying they just do that.
If you scratch the surface a little, the movie is a bit meta
in the sense it talks about the power of myth making while making a myth on
screen as well. The very legend of Rocky has people shaking in their boots even
before he arrives. Adheera knows this and does something that will make a God bleed
(A ‘Do you Bleed?’ BvS style parallel which my wife caught and I didn’t! Catching
hidden Snyder and Nolan parallels in a story is the sexiest thing a woman can
do in my opinion), PM Ramika Sen knows this and stops him from ever being
mentioned in history. Whether intentional or not, Prashanth Neel clearly
understands the power of story -telling and myth making to a deeper level and uses
that understanding really well on screen. The movie even has a Marvel style mid
credits scene that keeps the hype going even as you exit the theatre.
KGF : Chapter 2 is TOTAL TIMEPASS!! Watch this on the
biggest screen with the loudest of crowds possible!
One correction... The narrator in KGF Part 1 is Ananth Nag who is a well known actor... Not Girish Karnad..
ReplyDeleteSorry my mistake. Thanks for the correction
ReplyDelete