Rating: 3/5 Stars (Three stars)
Star Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
What’s Good: A captivating and thrilling story that never lets you guess what will happen next.
What’s Bad: The film’s awesome pace slows down at the start of the second half, before it picks up again later.
Loo Break: During the start of the second half.
Watch or Not?: Kahaani 2 is an intricately crafted film that becomes absolutely terrifying at times. It deserves a watch from fans of thriller movies.
User Rating:
A car accident has put Vidya Sinha (Vidya Balan/Durga Rani Singh) in a coma. It happened while she was still in the shock of her daughter having been kidnapped.
Sub-inspector Inderjeet Singh, who is investigating the case, not only realizes that he knows Vidya Sinha personally, but also learns that she is in fact Durga Rani Singh, who is wanted in a kidnapping and murder case.
The mystery of Vidya’s dual identities is deepened further by the incidents written in her diary. The story unfolds page by page to answer the many intriguing questions and also to reveal the story of her tumultuous life.
Kahaani 2 Review: Script Analysis
Kahaani 2 breathes not just on the basis of its story, but also on the basis of its brilliant dialogues and well thought-out characters. These add a sense of ordinariness to the scenes, making them easy to believe.
We are shown two different phases of Vidya’s life. One which slowly moves towards explaining why she turns into a murderer and the other in which she is trying her best to run from those who are after her life. The co-existence of these two phases presents completely different questions altogether, deepening the mystery furthermore.
Mysteries are the heart of Kahaani 2, which is why the film’s script slips when it stops serving them to us in the early minutes of the second half. Emotional scenes that don’t seem to take the story forward plague this portion, and they really hurt the film’s pace.
In contrast, the first half of Kahaani 2 is absolutely mind-blowing. It’s intriguing and promising in equal measure. It’s never predictable.
The script should also be admired for subtly and responsibly handling the subject of sexual abuse. The intense nature of these scenes makes them scary, and powerful. Yet, Kahaani 2 is not serious all the time. How the characters react to their situations is a source of laughter more than a few times in this film.
Kahaani 2 Review: Star Performance
Once again, Vidya Balan steals the show. She convincingly portrays the role of a single mother who will go to any lengths in order to protect her child. Never does her performance overdo an emotion and it hence never becomes unpersuasive. But that was something expected. What came as a surprise was Arjun Rampal’s reprisal of sub-inspector Inderjeet Singh. For a change, his face generated natural expressions and he maintains this throughout the film. His is a performance to watch out for in Kahaani 2.
Just like in the previous Kahaani, the remaining cast makes the most of their supporting roles. Jugal Hansraj, nonchalantly essays the role of the main antagonist, while debutant Manini Chadha also impresses as the Inderjeet Singh’s wife.
Kharaj Mukherjee, the rotund police officer from Kahaani, is back in Kahaani 2 where he is playing a police officer again. He again ends up proving his wonderful acting skills.
Kahaani 2 Review: Direction, Music
It can be said that that Sujoy Ghosh has succeeded in giving the original Kahaani a good sequel. He has constructed yet another intriguing tale which although, loses its pace in the second half, still has you holding your breath for its characters.
The film adopts a dark tone from the start, with yellow lights and shadows painting obscure pictures. But even as the film progresses and the mysteries get solved, the scenes travel into more light-rich environments. Although an old trick, it works subconsciously to immerse you further into the story.
Ghosh and his cinematographer (Tapan Basu) also deserve credit for once again choosing brilliant locations. It’s not just Kolkata this time; you are also treated to fog-laden locales of Kalimpong and a small town called Chandan Nagar which has a character of its own.
Clinton Cerejo’s background score is on point. Mehram is a good song, but it does not gel well with the dark tone of the film, and hence hurts its pace a bit. Aaur Main Khush Hoon however, does not have the same effect, as it’s played at the end of the film, justifying the triumph of the protagonist.
Kahaani 2 Review: The Last Word
Kahaani 2 is an excellently crafted thriller, which is bogged down by the curse of the second half. It’s nonetheless a good weekend watch. 3 out of 5 stars for this one.
Kahaani 2 Trailer
Kahaani 2 releases on 2nd Dec, 2016.
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