‘KGF Chapter 2’ Review: Yash Is Golden In This Bigger, Better Written Sequel. But Things Still Rocky For Female Characters
Can I just say that irrespective of how the film turns out to be, I’ve often walked into South movies and walked out with a crush on the lead actor? Sometimes against my better judgement which tries to remind me that the actor played a problematic, hyper-masculine character who did nothing remotely deserving of that crush. Except, do every single thing with incredulous style. It’s hard to not fall for it. As I overheard in the restroom during the interval for KGF Chapter 2, style and hero-worshipping are the Indian cine goer’s gold standard for entertainment. And in that case, this sequel to the blockbuster KGF (Kolar Gold Fields) written and directed by Prashanth Neel and headlined by rocking star Yash, is practically this audience’s El Dorardo. Produced by Hombale Films and presented in association with Excel Entertainment and AA Films in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, KGF Chapter 2 also stars Srinidhi Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, and Prashant Raj, amongst several returning cast members.
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In KGF 2, we pick up immediately after the events of the first film. Rocky, in a bid to fulfil the promise he made to his dying mother about conquering the world, has won over the labourers from Narachi. He killed Garuda in front of them and has now assumed control of KGF, much to the dismay of the very people who sent him there to kill Garuda. What follows then is the story of Rocky’s struggle to retain control of KGF while fighting enemies on all sides, some overt like Suryavardhan’s brother, Adheera, and politician Ramika Sen, and some covert ones too.
For me, KGF Chapter 1 was actually two different films before and after the interval. The first, and I do not exaggerate, gave me a headache with its action and editing. I get that intercuts are a nice device to amp up the epicness of this rags-to-swag story of Rocky Bhai, but thoda rehem on the eyes and ears of your audience, please? How are we to follow through with what’s happening? The second half is when I actually started to dig (pun intended) the story because there was finally a semblance of one. The myth of Rocky, a saviour who was deified like Jesus by those he freed from slavery reminded me a lot of Prabhas’ Shiva from Baahubali. Except, Rocky is not some whitewashed do-gooder. He is a man consumed with his ambition to conquer the world, after watching his mother die wanting a better life. And while it begins as a commentary on class difference, Rocky’s unquenchable desire makes him dangerously teetering on the brink of becoming the very oppressor he freed his people from. The action and scale aside, this mythical tale of the rise and fall of a hero is deliciously enticing. So upon my second watch earlier this week, I was ripe and ready for KGF Chapter 2. Excited even, to find out more about the rise and fall of El Dorado.
I had enjoyed how an interview between an author, Anand Ingalagi and a journalist Deepa Hegde was employed as a narrative device to take us deep into the fact vs fiction dynamic of KGF and Rocky in the first film. And I am happy to report that in KGF Chapter 2, this continues, except this time, it is an indisposed Ingalagi’s son who takes over the telling of a story which even he doesn’t know entirely but which kept his father away from his family because he was so obsessed with it. This does a great job of once again letting the story straddle the line between reality and myth, with a nice role reversal: this time Hegde is the one in thrall of the story while Ingalagi Jr is the skeptic. In fact, I love how the film begins, with unearthing Rocky’s glory buried deep within the now destroyed KGF juxtaposed with our narrators discovering the KGF Chapter 2 manuscript in Ingalagi’s study. In another scene, the young kids from Narachi tell Reena the story of their God, Rocky, with such dramatic flair. It’s sure to give you goosebumps.
Also Read: KGF Chapter 2 Twitter Review: Fans Can’t Get Enough Of Raveena Tandon’s Powerful Performance And Yash Aka Rocky Bhai’s Swag
Right off the bat, KGF Chapter 2 is a much better-made film than its predecessor, in that no headaches were induced, or whiplash caused by its editing. Though there’s one particular car chase scene in the first half that once again uses cuts to elevate the slickness of it. I found it rather annoying, the screen going repeatedly blank and interrupting my viewing experience. Unlike RRR, which had meh dialogue when dubbed in Hindi, KGF 2’s dialogues are actually decent. Sure, they serve only one purpose 99% of the times—to glorify a character and their prowess—but it doesn’t feel too much or cliché. What does feel too much sometimes is the sound; at some points, the background music gets so loud that I missed out on a few words at the end of the dialogue.
The music, once again glorifying our hero, is a perfect fit. I love the song Sulthana, the power!
Make no mistake, if you go in with the tempered expectations from a film of this genre, KGF Chapter 2 delivers on all fronts. It has larger than life characters, is visually more dynamic and sharper than the first one, and has action sequences to thrill fans. Not to mention, the swagger of Yash’s Rocky is irresistible, even when his character is doing some truly questionable things and speaking in the trademark incorrect English. He is easily my favourite character, not just because of the swagger but also because his arc really opens up to accommodate more shades of his character, as the film begins his descent into darkness. The sequel recasts a bunch of characters that were faceless before, such as politician Ramika Sen, played now by a power-exuding Raveena Tandon. Also rising from the dead is the character Adheera, played now by Sanjay Dutt, who is said to have trained himself and his team in Viking ways and could easily find a place in Robert Eggers’ The Northman. The clash between Rocky and Adheera is the highlight of KGF 2, even though the two characters repeatedly make stupid decisions to leave their enemies alive. I mean, why, when neither of them is averse to spilling blood.
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For the most part, KGF is predictable, even if the narrators are trying hard to induce a sense of thrill and surprise. If you’ve seen enough of this genre, you can anticipate what is going to happen next. Like in this one scene, where everyone thinks the hero has abandoned his people and scurried away to safety with all the treasure, but it’s only him executing a devious plan for revenge. Or when he walks into Ramika Sen’s office, the very woman who is trying to have him incarcerated. And I credit Yash’s charm and his style entirely for just how entertaining these scenes become. And that’s how I know that KGF Chapter 2 will work for its intended audience, who just wants a grand, stylish pay-off and the hero to win, even if as a human being, he is losing a lot.
But what of its unintended audience? Hmm, that’s where these mines run out of gold. For someone like me, who makes a living off running every film through the Bechdel Test and calling them out for their abysmal portrayal of women, KGF Chapter 2 is a nightmare and much worse than the first one. Srinidhi Shetty, who plays Reena Desai, at least dressed the way she wanted and had some personality in the first film. Yes, she fell in love with a dude who harassed her, in a typical execution of Indian cinema’s stalker/harasser hero trope. But there was hope. In KGF 2, she is reduced to an extra of sorts, who serves only one purpose—to stand in the crowd amidst the KGF workers, dressed constantly in Indian clothes because her abductor would like her in them, and barely emoting. It’s probably a mix of Rocky’s style and Stockholm Syndrome that causes her to fall for him, and as a treat, she gets one love song, and finally a sticky fate. A lofty idea nags at me, telling me to think that how Rocky treated her the entire film was meant as a metaphor, as an indication perhaps that in his pursuit of the world, the happiness he was looking for was right there and he mistreated it and neglected it. And how his mother filled his head with ideas of world domination because love didn’t fill their stomachs, but had she taught him love, he would have known when to hit the breaks on his ambition and reaped the rewards of his KGF win for longer. But I don’t know…
I get it, these films are made for an audience that has the same unquenchable thirst for hyper-masculine heroes as Rocky has for power. But would it kill ya to write the female characters better? Because when you put even a little thought into writing them, they’ll actually make a far better impression. Look at Ramika Sen, played by Raveena. It wasn’t a character that I felt was fully realised, but when the time came to take action, she did with minimal hesitation. In fact, she is the only one in the entire film who takes definitive action, unlike the men who are, for the lack of a better word, naïve and stupidly trusting of their enemies!
Also Read: Every Traditional Indian Outfit That KGF Chapter 2 Star Srinidhi Shetty Rocked
As I mentioned before, KGF Chapter 1 felt like two different films to me. Well, so did KGF 2. In fact, the film is the equivalent of finding a Starbucks cup in a scene of a medieval fantasy show like Game Of Thrones. The fancy guns, Rocky’s swag, the ease with which people transport themselves in record time from one place to another… all of it represent the modern world the story is set in. And then there are Rocky’s nemeses, like the Viking-looking Adheera, who brings a broadsword to a Kalashnikov fight, and a country’s Prime Minister who does not know that an entire empire has been running in Karnataka by a gangster. Umm, sir, is this a joke? At one point, the CBI officer pursuing Rocky’s case tells the PM that the man is so powerful, that he has banned commercial flights from flying over KGF, and I just cannot believe something this big can happen without other powerful people finding out. No, not to stop them, but because the norm of our corrupt world is, that such people also want a piece of the pie. So really, what gives? The film lives in two worlds that seem both medieval and modern at the same time, and something about that didn’t sit right with me. Nevertheless, this ambitious sequel has a stronger second half, in which it finally stops deifying its hero and brings out his flawed human side, only there isn’t enough of it. Or maybe there’s more… Sit put for a mid-credits scene, you guys.
Verdict
In this past month, I’ve seen two South Indian films that have larger-than-life heroes and that tell a story that’s about real people with mythical undertones. One is, of course, RRR, and the other is KGF Chapter 2. And I am going to pull a Rocky and put forth an unpopular opinion: I could digest the latter a tad better mainly because it is written a bit better.
The intended audience of KGF Chapter 2 and Yash fans are going to love it because it is bigger, technically better, and more layered in its storytelling than its predecessor. A skeptic like me would rate this film somewhere in the middle because the misgivings are too many and too big to dismiss. But even I’ll admit that even in its most predictable moments, KGF Chapter 2 is actually better and more entertaining than the first chapter. I’m sure that’s striking gold.
KGF Chapter 2 is currently in cinemas in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.
