Kahaani 2: The Durga is only in name

In the original film the protagonist was drawn from the myths, a rebirth of the Hindu goddess, here there is no such symbolism.
Youtube screengrab from Kahaani 2 trailer
Youtube screengrab from Kahaani 2 trailer

Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Jugal Hansraj, Naisha Khanna

Director: Sujoy Ghosh

Rating: 

The Durga in Kahaani 2 is only in name. This spiritual sequel from Sujoy Ghosh is also called Durga Rani Singh (Vidya Balan). Unlike the original film where the protagonist was drawn from the myths, a rebirth of the Hindu goddess, here there is no such symbolism. While evil was always lurking in Kahaani, here everyone including the crew is two steps behind.


Ghosh sacrifices narrative coherence for some visual flair. Roads dark and drenched after a downpour, neon lights and sign boards forever flashing, rickshaw drivers, hawkers, and beggars in and out of the frame, dingy clinics and hospitals, sleepy towns breathing just outside of the city. He attempts a pulpy noir where some genre conventions are found wanting. It’s one thing to see a film for what it is but if that’s all you want from it, then why make it a spiritual sequel of it?


What is the definition of the fairly nascent term — spiritual sequel? That it shares the universe of the first film? That it follows a similar philosophy, or that it has similarly sketched characters who face very similar problems? All you want to do is compare. The first film had an eccentric investigator in Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Khan. It also had the straight shooting foil in Parambrata Chatterjee’s curiousl y named Satyaki Sinha.

In Kahaani 2 we get Jugal Hansraj in a role we wouldn’t have imagined in our wildest dreams. And Arjun Rampal. To be fair, he’s not bad. There is no quirk and this is the larger problem with Kahaani 2. There is nothing  in the film that latches on to us and says we are watching something more than an intriguing film headlined by a woman. Even she gets the bland name of Durga Rani.


Kahaani 2 has some really irritating contrivances in its plot. There is a needless attempt to connect characters and bring in a sentimental sidekick. The first film never resorted to such questionable tactics. Does Kahaani 2 work standalone — like Vidya Bagchi of the original — when you forget that the first film exists? Tough to say.


Vidya Balan as always is reliable but at this point this is the kind of role she can do with eyes closed. And she does because when Inderjeet (Arjun Rampal) is trying to make sense of the proceedings, Durga is in coma. So are we. I really wanted to see more of Inderjeet’s senior, a far more interesting loudmouth. To watch him solve this case would be spiritual cleansing.

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