‘K.G.F: Chapter 2’ movie review: Yash and Prashanth Neel’s film is an unabashed celebration of hyper-masculinity

Filmmaker Prashanth Neel corrects some of the wrongs of the first part in this sequel, which is electrifying for sure — but also a bit of a drag in the middle portion

Spoilers ahead…

There is something outlandish yet gorgeous about the K.G.F franchise that they no longer make such films. That they no longer imagine scenes propelled by absolute madness. After all, K.G.F films are written on steroids. 

There is a moment in K.G.F: Chapter 2, where Rocky Bhai (a rocking Yash, bathed and cleansed in masculine orgy) takes a machine gun out to blow up a police station, in the garb of a “field test”. With a cigarette hanging from his lip, he fires aimlessly to show his prowess as bullets zoom past the station and everything in between. Bullet casings drop to the ground and Bhai walks in slow-motion to light up his cigarette from the gun’s nozzle with an equally electrifying background score by Ravi Basrur. 

There, in that one single shot, Prashanth Neel highlights what the K.G.F films are for: to create a delirious cinematic experience, where there is barely any time for us to contemplate logic and sense. There is only one way to look at K.G.F for it to work for you and that is to partake in the madness it offers — from scene to scene; one set piece to another; one giddy stunt choreography to the next.

The most amazing achievement of Prashanth Neel has got to be the marrying of the Hollywood motifs from influential figures — Coppola, Scorsese, Mel Gibson to Peter Jackson and George Miller — with masala flourishes from Indian filmmakers. This meeting of the two worlds is powerful and visceral, even if it remains just a possibility throughout. Let me illustrate this marriage with the most terrific scene of K.G.F Chapter 2 which concerns Bhai but isn’t about him. 

Reena (played by Srinidhi Shetty) attempts to convey to Bhai that she is pregnant with his child. She doesn’t straight away tell him but drops hints that Bhai, who is preoccupied with business, doesn’t catch. Now, the usual way is to make Reena say she’s going to become a mother or Bhai is going to become a father. Instead, she says, “ amma vara poranga,” a callback to Bhai’s emotional struggle with memories of his mother. Not to mention the lullaby score in the background. I choked. This is masala and it is pure. 

Come to think of it, the only emotional stake that is anchoring both the K.G.F films is the sufferings of Bhai’s mom, which again is a throwback to a popular trope from the masala universe of a previous era — but. There is something singularly distinct about Prashanth Neel’s idea of masala in comparison to SS Rajamouli’s, who, we must acknowledge, brought about a much-needed renaissance to the masala tradition of Indian cinema. Neel’s films are more focused on the extremes, while Rajamouli’s are a work of visionary.