KAHAANI 2

 KAHAANI 2

A spoiler-free assessment of Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh is that despite a couple of major scripting flaws, the movie is never boring, well acted and consistently stays within thriller territory.

Starring Vidya Balan in dowdy deglam mode and Arjun Rampal as the police officer in the West Bengal cadre, Kahaani 2 gave away a fair bit of its storyline away in its trailer. So it is perfectly alright to say that the 129-minute movie is about a woman accused of murdering her daughter, and contains hints of violence against children and a cat-and-mouse game between the accused and the police office

Kahaani 2 shares with its predecessor half a title, the Bengal location, an enterprising and strong-willed heroine, and the belief that for all their hard work and commitment, the local police force is not very bright when it comes to solving clues and nabbing criminals who are hiding in plain sight. Balan is once again named Vidya, but this time she has another name, Durga Rani Singh, and a past that is revealed through one of the oldest scripting devices around: a diary.

Kahaani lulled us into submission by presenting flashbacks that ultimately turned out to be fake, leaving us in no position to guess the climactic twist. Kahaani 2 has far fewer gimmicks and lower ambitions. It’s a simple and snappily narrated story, smoothly steered by Namrata Rao’s editing and powered by Balan’s winning central performance with efficient backing from Rampal.