Kahaani 2

It is always a tough task to live up to the expectations of a well made movie when you try to make a franchise sequel to it. With Kahaani 2, Sujoy Ghosh tries to pitch another thrilling story in a real world scenario. While the treatment is much similar to the previous movie, the script sort of follows a pattern from the earlier one which apparently causes problem to the film in being surprising like Kahaani.

Kahaani 2 isn’t about Vidya Bagchi who was there in Kahaani. In Kahaani 2, Sujoy Ghosh is telling us about a single mother, Durga Rani Singh. She has a paralyzed daughter named Minnie and she is taking care of her within her limitations. One particular evening Minnie goes missing and Durga gets a call from the kidnapper of Minnie. On her way to find Minnie, Duraga met with an accident and went to coma. The plot of Kahaani 2 deals with the investigation done by a police officer Inderjeeth about this accident. He happens to go through Durga’s writings and the movie unfolds the reason behind the kidnap and the back story of Durga and Minnie. (You might feel that I have revealed too much. But this much was there in the trailer.)

Like I said in the beginning, the way Sujoy Ghosh has treated the subject is pretty close to the way he narrated Kahaani. Attention is given to minimal things to give the movie a feel that this could happen in the real world. The sleeping old neighbor, the reaction Durga gives when she sees herself in the mirror, the scenes with Vidya Balan and Jugal Hansraj etc. shows the detailing Sujoy gives to the content. It is indeed a hard decision when the first movie is a loudly appreciated one whether to make a similar film or an entirely new thing. Sujoy Ghosh and Suresh Nair sort of mix it up and used a fresh plot to convey another Kahaani. The disappointment is mainly in the second half as we could sense who is being smart. When Vidya Bagchi pulls out that fake belly and we get to see all the montages leading to her decision to come to Kolkata, there was this wow feel to it. But here when that unveiling happens, the feel is somewhat like an Abbas Mustan thriller.

The earnest performance of Vidya Balan is definitely the best thing about Kahaani 2. The character has certain desperations and she pulls it off very convincingly. From looks to emotions, the actress is true to the character. Arjun Rampal was also good as Inderjeeth.  Both Minnies were good. Jugal Hansraj gets a small yet meaty character and I hope this “third” comeback will help him in getting some character roles. I really liked the actress Manini Chadha in this film. She really looks like a promising talent beyond her gorgeous looks.

Sujoy Ghosh hasn’t really forgotten all those minimal things that created the feel of Kahaani. From the detailing of the locations and streets to the hand held camera style to create a realistic panic, he recreates the intrigue the film needed. Where he and Suresh Nair fumble is in being truly original with the conclusion. As an audience we are somewhere doing our permutations and combinations to guess about the plot and the writing can’t really fool us. The “punishment” part has less significance and the escape plan gets more attention. The cuts are sharp and the visuals definitely create the mood. Background score is minimal and the song excerpts are in sync with the narrative.

Burdened by the expectations of Kahaani, Kahaani 2 is still a decent enough thriller that won’t make you feel that it is too over the top. It is somewhat grounded like Kahaani, but the uniqueness you felt in terms of the suspense element in the first one was just not there in this version.

Rating: 3/5