Kahaani 2-Durga Rani Singh: A Kahaani too Predictable
It is always a hard luck for a sequel to be compared to its prequel which cannot be changed and “Kahaani 2” without doubt will be compared to “Kahaani”, though both the movies are different and has no bearing with each other, other than the genre. The comparison is inevitable since Sujoy Ghosh teams up again with Vidya Balan after “Kahaani” and that to in a thriller..
“Kahaani 2” commences with the story of a middle class working woman Vidya Sinha(Vidya Balan) who has a spastic daughter Mini (Tunisha Sharma) who is wheel chair bound. One day when Vidya returns home she finds Mini missing and she receives a call that her daughter has been kidnapped and she needs to come to a place if she wants her daughter alive. Vidya meets with an accident when trying to reach the destination as mentioned by the kidnapper and goes in coma. Inspector Inderjeet Singh (Arjun Rampal) is given the charge of investigating the accident. Inder discovers that Vidya looks like Durga Rani Singh, who is wanted for kidnapping and murder in Kalinpong. As evidence Inderjeet just has a diary written by Vidya. Is Inderjeet able to solve the mystery of whether both Vidya and Durga Rani Singh are same or whether they are two different individuals is what the movie is all about..
Story by Sujoy Ghosh and Suresh Nair has an interesting premise, and screenplay by Sujoy Ghosh holds the story from beginning till the end, but still there was something missing which was the biggest draw of its prequel “Kahaani”. Sujoy tries to imbibe enough twists and turns in the script but half hour into the movie and you can make out the story. “Kahaani 2” misses the shock element which “Kahaani” had and for which it became a milestone movie. The climax looked weak as there was no novelty at the end. There are enough loopholes in the script in the form of co-incidences which is quite blatant to be ignored. Dialogues by Sujoy Ghosh & Ritesh Shah are realistic and to the point, not beating around the bush. “Kahaani” scored due to the unpredictability factor where “Kahaani 2” fails miserably, as it is too predictable…
Performance was the highlight of “Kahaani” and “Kahaani 2” does not disappoint us in that department, Vidya Balan as Vidya Sinha /Durga Rani Singh gives us a believable and honest performance as usual, but looks extremely tired and worn out throughout the movie which steals the spark off her performance, but overall she does not disappoint. Arjun Rampal as Inspector Inderjeet Singh gets the nuances of his character bang on, his laid back demeanour suits the character. Kharaj Mukherjee as Prabal Haldar, gives the much needed comic relief in the proceedings and his typical bong accent adds on to the humour. Child actor Naisha Khanna as child Mini is the highlight performance. Being a child Naisha gets the act right from the word go and she impresses the most with her vulnerable act. Tunisha Sharma as the Teen Mini as nothing much to do but still does a decent job. Jugal Hansraj as the antagonist Mohit Dewan tries very hard to be mean but yet is not completely convincing, rather the female actor who played the Nepali woman police constable gives more chills than Jugal. Bengali actors Tota Roy Choudhury & Kaushik Sen are wasted in inconsequential roles. Another actor who steals the show is Manini Chadha who plays Rashmi Singh, Inderjeet Singh’s wife; she is so easy in her portrayal that the acting and reality blend beautifully, definitely an actor to watch out for. Amba Sanyal as Mini’s Dadi gets the mean and prudish act bang on…Rest of the cast also do a competitive job…
It is camera work by Tapan Basu that lifts the movie. Whether it is the by lanes of Chandan Nagar or Kolkata or the beautiful Kalimpong, Tapan’s cinematography blends with the narrative beautifully. Each frame has been meticulously shot keeping in mind the premise of the movie.
Sujoy Ghosh got the premise correct but fails in bringing in the novelty and ends up making “Kahaani 2” predictable, which becomes the biggest flaw of the movie. After “Kahaani”, a lot was expected from Sujoy Ghosh but he does not match the expectations completely and misses it a wee bit, I hope it does not cost him grave. We still believe in Sujoy Ghosh as a director, give us “Jhankar Beats” any day….
“Kahaani 2” is good as a standalone movie and watchable, but if compared to “Kahaani” it is average.. I will go with 3 stars…
Movie Rating: 
(3 / 5)