KGF Chapter 2, Review: The audience as cannon fodder

One-and-a-half million residents in and around Kolar Gold Fields are either shooting their guns out or are learning how to do so. Gangsters in Mumbai and the Middle East are either shooting their guns out or are selling guns to other gangsters. The police and the army are either shooting their guns out in raids, or are waiting for orders to do so. Rocky and his coterie are either shooting their guns out at the bosses at KGF, Bad Boy Adheera and their followers, or waiting to do so, while the bosses at KGF, Adheera and his followers are shooting their guns out at Rocky and his coterie, or waiting to do so. Over a period of 168 minutes, some 168,000 bullets are fired, left, right, centre, above, below, front, behind, north, south, east, west. Wherever you are seated in the auditorium, there is no escape. If the bullets don’t get you, the cannons will. Like the term used in the film, you, the audience, are cannon fodder for KGF Chapter 2.

Rocky has killed Garuda, and now he enters a conclave of the top bosses at KGF, Guru Pandian, Andrews and Daya, Rajendra Desai and Kamal, with Reena Desai, who he has kidnapped from a club. He proclaims that he will keep her with him for his entertainment, which enrages her father, Rajendra Desai, who swears that he will kill Rocky for this. Instead, Rocky shoots Desai dead. He is now the kingpin of the KGF. Soon, he kills Virat, Garuda's brother, and the heir apparent to the KGF syndicate. However, he spares Vanaram, commander of the KGF army, because he wants Vanaram, a crack-shot, to train the villagers, who will now serve as guards, in shooting skills.

Declaring that greed is the foundation stone for all progress, Rocky orders his men to start extensive extraction, with the intention of discovering as much gold as possible in the shortest time. Meanwhile, Adheera, Suryavardhan's brother, who was presumed dead, is revealed to be alive, and stakes his claim to the ownership of KGF. Adheera is on the other side of the wooden bridge, and kills all the guards there. He wants to come over to this side, but a loyal Muslim aide of Rocky, Farmaan, burns down the bridge an even cuts the ropes. Nevertheless, Adheera manages to cross over. He tricks Rocky to go out of out of KGF and shoots him, but spares his life, so that word is spread in KGF that the terrifying Adheera is here and Rocky is vulnerable. Shetty, Rocky’s ex-boss in Bombay, has tied up with fellow gangsters across West and South India, and plans to act against Rocky. They are also dealing with Inayat Khalil, a dreaded gangster from Dubai. Meanwhile, Rocky recuperates.

In his very first film, Ugramm, Prashanth Neel explored the underworld, MLA connections, shipping and fraud. That was in 2014. He entered the KG field in 2018, and Chapter 2 is a long-delayed (Covid to blame), much-awaited sequel. Chapter 1 had been a money spinner, with an investment of Rs. 50 crore and returns of Rs. 250 crore. And to quote writer-director Prashanth, Chapter 2 was always on the table. Chapter 1 was an incomplete story, he has said. Now, with Rs. 100 crore invested in Take 2, the makers must be eyeing Rs. 600 crore as Take Home, at a conservative estimate. Nobody can say that Neel does not know how to make money spinners. Not having seen Chapter 1, I might have a few continuity problems and will be unable to compare the two ventures. But as far as Chapter 2 is concerned, I can say that there are ways and ways of making money, and some of them are best avoided.

Rocky shoots Rajendra Desai dead, and the entire conclave of billionaires merely watches. Nobody had a gun? Did they not have armed guards? Even Desai’s daughter Reena does not react as she should, when her father is killed before her eyes. In a similar situation, Adheera shoots his target but hits another person who comes in the way. And then he merely goes away. What prevented him from shooting again, to get his victim, who is still standing there? Rocky does nothing substantial to win over Reena, yet she later confesses that she loves him. Are physical strength and the ability to kill your foe, the ideal criteria for heading the world’s biggest goldmine? ‘Danger ahead’ warnings, usually found in electrical installations and at steep mountain curves, are used twice, to suggest that the character concerned should have heeded this warning and stayed away from his nemesis. What level of IQ are we addressing here? There is man called Jimmy Carter waiting to meet the Prime Minister, in 1981, if I recall correctly, the last year of the real Jimmy Carter’s presidential term. This man, played by a foreigner, actually greets Rocky as he emerges from the PM’s room and introduces himself as the CEO of an American company. Rocky asks what CEO stands for, and when told, he laughs, that he is a CEO too. “Of?” asks Carter, and he replies “India”. At 97, Jimmy Carter is still alive. Do we see a lawsuit being filed anytime soon? And I distinctly heard someone say demography instead of democracy.

The much touted Rocky dialogue about, “I don’t like violence, but violence likes me,” is a joke in very poor taste, given the context of the proceedings. For a minute or so, Neel muffles the sounds of bullets and other armaments, almost muting the soundtrack. That was the best scene in the film, bringing much-needed relief. Reena’s hints to Rocky about her being pregnant is an example of good direction, but Neel ruins it by making her do so loudly, in public. What kind of woman would do that? The ease with which Rocky enters police stations, legislative assemblies and even parliament, with a fleet of armoured vehicles on tow, whatever be the explanation in the end, is just not credible. Why does everybody allow him to enter their premises, walk up to them and then either kill them or strike a deal with them? He has no reputation as a friendly foe or a man of his word. On the contrary! Coming from him, all the inspiring talk about a son who is making amends for what he could not do for his father as a child, and as a son who is fulfilling his mother’s dream, sound completely hollow. Besides providing food and shelter to his subjects, there is nothing positive about the character, and a lot to hate. But, from the moolah/mazuma/rupees/dollars perspective, it must be accepted that audiences derive great vicarious pleasure from hatred.

With a large lock of hair on one side of his face and a beard and moustache to boot, we see very little of Yash (credited as Rocking Star Yash on screen), and the little we see of Raja Krishnappa Bairya alias Rocky’s face is usually spewing venom. Oh, the swagger and the superego are all there, in good measure. No great acting skills are required and none are on display. In the dark grey tones, almost all faces look similar. Sanjay Dutt as Adheera has a weird hair-style, and tattoos of alphabets on his head which I could never read. In a cat and mouse game, Rocky and Adheera go up and down in turns, until the final countdown. Some of the lines given to Sanjay are ludicrous. Srinidhi Shetty, playing Reena Desai, introduced in Chapter 1, shows signs of promise, but has little scope to impress. Raveena Tandon as Ramika Sen, Prime Minister of India, after a normal introduction, gives us at least one scene of brilliance, with guts and gumption.

Prakash Raj as Vijayendra Ingalagi, son of Anand Ingalagi, is seen whenever the narrative cuts to the book which is the basis of the film. He speaks with a clear imprint, as always, but has little to do, except talk. Archana Jois as Shanthamma, Rocky's mother, is impressive, though her bravado and tall talk seems illogical, unless Chapter 1 had something to do with it. Eswari Rao tugs at your heart as Farmaan’s mother, while Saran Shakhthi is convincing as Farmaan, Rocky’s devoted slave. Rao Ramesh as Kanneganti Raghavan, C.B. I Officer, and Ayyappa P. Sharma as Vanaram, commander of KGF, look their parts. Also in the cast are Ramesh Indira as Suryavardhan, Achyuth Kumar as Guru Pandian, Malavika Avinash as Deepa Hegde, Chief Editor of 24/news channel, Dinesh Mangaluru as Shetty, Rocky's employer and a prominent gold smuggler and Balakrishna as Inayat Khalil, a Dubai based don, who is miscast.

Cinematography by Bhuvan Gowda is to be appreciated only inasmuch as it lends itself to the Special Effects and the VFX team. The complete grey tone, used almost throughout the film, adds gloom to the doom. Special effects are by Babu Tyagi, who is the weapons master, while Can Yesilyurt  is the special effects technician. KGF Chapter 2 is edited by Ujwal Kulkarni, who has used blank frames and interspersed rapid cuts many times, but they do not make much difference to the tale, as we know which way the cookie will crumble. Such action spectaculars might need a longer length to finish their jobs, yet 168 minutes looks far too long in this case. There were several cuts in the second half that one wishes would signify the end, but no such luck. Alas, that was not to be. Some of the pleasant moments in the film were the two songs, both late in the second half, because they were such a welcome escape from the Russian Guns, Kalashnikovs, and the German mean machine, MM…or was it the MMM? So, thanks are due to music director Ravi Basrur. Mr. Basrur is also the sound designer, while Can Yesilyurt (again) is the sound mixer. When it comes to background music, Basrur and Yesilyurt are as merciless as Rocky is to his enemies. One feels that they have been given the same hammer that Rocky pulls out from the ground while battling Adheera and told to go at the audience, with tongs added. They give an entirely new meaning to the term heavy metal music. And a thumbs down to the Hindi dubbing team, both in terms of writing and voicing.

Aw, come on, after all it is just another movie, so why I am I acting so KG For God’s sake! Oh yes? There is a Chapter 3 in the offing. I need to prepare for that. Meditation might help.

Rating: **

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0ROVoje6HQ