KGF: Chapter 2 Movie Review: Yash’s ‘Rocky’ Transitions From ‘Bhai’ To ‘Bhagwan’, But The Atheist In Me Is Also A Critic!

Star Cast: Yash, Srinidhi Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Prakash Raj

Director: Prashanth Neel

What’s Good: Yash. Yash’s style. Yash’s action. And the thread that joins them all!

What’s Bad: Makers don’t ‘narrate’ the (half-baked) story, they howl in your eardrums!

Loo Break: The tracking rate of decibel/scene is so high that you’ll be forced to take one

Watch or Not?: Did you watch Chapter 1 and loved it? Give this a try as well, you may not love it as much but you’ll live through it

Available On: Theatrical Release

Runtime: 168 Minutes

Author Anand Vasiraju’s son Vijayendra (Prakash Raj) continues to tell the infamous Rocky’s (Yash) tale to a news-channel editor starting from where it all ended in the first chapter. In his story, we see how Rocky, from ‘bhai’, has now transitioned into ‘bhagwan’ for people around him. Now that he has killed Garuda, it’s Adheera (Sanjay Dutt) and his army who returns to find and kill Rocky.

Adheera isn’t the only obstacle for Rocky to cross but he now is on the radar of India’s Prime Minister Ramika Sen (Raveena Tandon). While Rocky somehow dodges Adheera, it’s the Government that comes in his way of becoming the ‘CEO of India’ (in his own words). In this triple threat match, will there be just one winner? Well, put some cotton in your ears and sit back to know!

KGF: Chapter 2 Movie Review: Script Analysis

Prashanth Neel’s ‘ambition’ overrides his ‘story-telling’ and that’s the biggest issue of his script. Everything looks extremely cool visually, but the whole argument behind making things cool is weak. It comes with some similar issues as chapter 1 like why is everyone talking so loud with everyone? I wanted to keep a track of how long any scene could be silent but it was so loud, I couldn’t concentrate.

Just to clarify, I don’t mind loudness in films, I’ve loved movies like Master, Rowdy Rathore, Dabangg and likes. But, this one doesn’t just leave your mind numb, but it does the same thing with your ears as well.

Side Bar: A scene censors the word ‘democracy’ changing it to ‘demography’, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the irony of what a democratic society we’re living in.

Bhuvan Gowda’s camerawork elevates the already monumentally mounted action sequences, to a level that’s almost unseen in the Indian film industry. Yash’s car chase sequence with ‘play & pause’ transitions remains the best highlight of the film owing to its breathtaking cinematography and well-synchronised background score by Ravi Basrur.

But the same Class-A cinematography goes against the feel of the film when it rushes from one place to another in Yash & Sanjay’s combat scenes because as the film’s story, nothing is clear enough to understand anything.

KGF: Chapter 2 Movie Review: Star Performance

Chapter 1 was enough to register why there could be no one else apart from Yash to get the machismo of Rocky with such accuracy & swag. Chapter 2 just strengthens the similar thought further by transitioning him from ‘bhai to bhagwan’. Makers make sure to keep Rocky bhai on the pedestal boasting his high-octane presence in every alternate scene. The way he delivers his self-written dialogues, one can’t help but listen to him (even if that doesn’t interest you).

Srinidhi Shetty gets too little to contribute to the narrative, plus she gets a song (Mehbooba) that clutters the second half without any solid explanation. Sanjay Dutt was expected to repeat Kancha Cheena from Agneepath but due to the story’s myopic treatment, he doesn’t get a single chance (apart from his introduction sequence) to register any intrigue.

Raveena Tandon’s PM remains one-dimensional throughout the film without creating any major impact. Prakash Raj is reduced down to be a mere narrator, adding nothing apart from his voice.

KGF: Chapter 2 Movie Review: Direction, Music

Prashanth Neel, like every other director working with ‘worshipped by fans’ star, gives in to the fan service losing his focus from what should’ve been a raw & earthy treatment of the story. The film celebrates Yash not once or twice but in every scene, he is in, it’s just Prashanth fails to find equally interesting reasons to do so for most of such instances.

Ravi Basrur’s background score serves in a huge spectrum from too loud to too trippy. Just like every other thing, even the BGM of this film is on steroids complimenting a few sequences, burdening others. Not a single song is going to remain in my playlist after the film, but the problem is they aren’t even situational.

KGF: Chapter 2 Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, this jumps from ‘larger than life’ to ‘larger than god’ treatment, and gives Yash fans another reason to celebrate his heroism. But beneath all the screams and boisterous BGM, one important thing gets suppressed and rarely gets a chance to flourish – intriguing storytelling.

Two and a half stars!

KGF: Chapter 2 Trailer