La La Land

When ‘Kahaani’, featuring Vidya Balan, released five years back it became a surprise hit. The film was praised immensely for presenting a strong female character and a content which appealed to the universal audience. Similarly ‘Kahaani 2’ is a story that never lets you guess the next scene. Once again, Vidya Balan steals the show. She convincingly portrays the role of a single mother who is willing to go to any lengths in order to protect her child. Never does her performance overdo an emotion therefore it never becomes unreasonable.

The film starts off with a day in the life of Vidyya Sinha (Vidya Balan), which  swings between her wheel chair ridden daughter Mini (Naisha Khanna/Tunisha Sharma) and her office .One day she returns home from work to find her house empty and her daughter Mini missing. Soon after she receives an image of her daughter bound and gagged, along with a phone call from an unknown number stating that her daughter has been kidnapped and that she should reach a stipulated spot if she wants to save her. Vidyya wastes no time and rushes to the said spot. On the way, she meets with an untimely accident, which lands her in  coma. There enters the ‘promotion hungry’ police officer Sub-Inspector Inderjeet Singh (Arjun Rampal), officer in-charge of the case. On his journey to uncover the truth Inderjeet discovers Vidya’s diary that shocks him completely. In the interim Inderjeet is informed by his superior officer that a dreaded killer and kidnapper Durga Rani Singh, was last spotted in their city. The mystery prevailing between Vidya Sinha and Durga Rani Singh and how Vidya Sinha ultimately lands up saving her daughter Mini is what forms the rest of the film.  

This film must be credited for one revelation – it has to be the discovery of Arjun Rampal– the actor. Arjun proves that he can actually construct an expression or three to convey emotion. It can be said that Sujoy Ghosh has succeeded in giving the original ‘Kahaani’ a good sequel. He has constructed yet another intriguing tale. Sujoy Ghosh and his cinematographer (Tapan Basu) also deserve credit for choosing brilliant locations. It is not just Kolkata this time; you are also treated to fog-laden locales of Kalimpong and a small town called Chandan Nagar which has a character of its own. Despite the presence of a handful of dull moments in the second half, the film’s pre-climax and climax makes up for everything. The film’s prime plot comes as a bolt from the blue. Overall, ‘Kahaani 2’ is a complicatedly crafted film that becomes absolutely terrifying at times. It deserves a watch from fans of thriller movies.