Kahaani 2 - review

Remember Vidya Bagchi, the pregnant software engineer who came all the way from London to Kolkata in search of her missing husband? I am obviously referring to the character played by Vidya Balan in Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani. The movie gets a rebirth in the form of another installment to the series. Kahaani 2 directed by the same man with Vidya Balan at the helm once again is not a sequel as such since the story, characters and backdrop is completely different from the first part of the franchise.

Talking about the latest of the Kahaani series, its gripping and engaging but less thrilling like the first part. The film is shredded with mystery, tension and suspense right from the beginning but the suspense element is revealed way too early making way for predictability in each and every scene from thereon. Still the film is watchable for its quality performance, good direction, unconventional camera work and thrilling background score and little bit of tweaking in the end towards twist.

SPOILER ALERT : The content written in this paragraph has certain aspects relating to the plot that can be spoilers and hence the advise here is to skip it and this apply to all those who are yet to watch the film. Vidya Sinha and her paralyzed daughter Mini are living a middle class life in Bengal when Mini is kidnapped and Vidya gets seriously injured in an accident. This makes way for Sub-inspector of police Inderjith Singh for doing the investigation. But things are not as easy as he imagined and the case goes through different angles bringing Durga Rani into the picture. What is Durga's role here and what is actually the case all about is what Kahaani 2 narrates.

Sujoy Ghosh has perfectly recreated the Bengal/Kolkata we know just like the first part. Major portions of the film is shot at night and has few surprises also on offer but the surprises and twist are less effective here unlike Kahaani the first one which was less predictable and was so intriguing with exceptional performances. The movie happens in the present and also goes to the flashback angle also. Scenes are mixed this way without affecting the overall flow making the gripping feel retained for a fair share of time till that big revelation happens.

Screenplay has its share of credit in giving the push so that no element of boredom creep in at any moment of time. There are tense moments created by this effective and focused screenplay that gives a good build-up to the story narrated through the present and flashback mode.

Vidya Balan is a great performer and if she gets a character that has substance in it, she is one actress who has the ability in her to go up a level and make that role brighter and shining. Its that case here in Kahaani 2 where the characters of Vidya Sinha / Durga Rani are structured neatly to give the actress something in it to perform and she has successfully enacted it in the best possible way.

Arjun Rampal as the investigating officer Inderjith Singh and Kharaj Mukherjee as his superior officer were the standout performers on the supporting side. Sujoy Ghosh who tried many unfamiliar Bengali actors successfully in the first part goes for the same pattern by choosing unfamiliar but good actors to do supporting roles. Jugal Hansraj, the blue eyed boy (of course not a boy anymore) with his chocolate looks of the late nineties and early part of 2000 is back in a small role that had the minimal stuff in it to make a performance that can stay in our mind.

Cinematography was similar and resembled how it was done in the first installment. Excellent and unorthodox camera work with a color pattern matching the mood and tone of the story. This genre demanded a gripping background score to give that perfect feel and the same was done as it needed. No songs in the movie with just one that appear right at the tail end of the film when things gets wound up.

If you are going to compare the movie with its predecessor, you are in for a slight disappointment but if the approach is to take the movie as a totally different one with no connection with the first part, then Kahaani 2 would be a watchable film providing relief in the form of good excitement and thrills.

Rating - 3 / 5