Movie Review: Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (Hindi)

Kahaani 2:
Durga Rani Singh

Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh is not a sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit but in many ways is a spiritual successor to the earlier film. You have the same Kolkata and its lived-in authentic feel, the same sort of enigma surrounding its lead character (Who is she? Is she Durga Rani Singh? Or is she Vidya Sinha? Is she a doting mother? Or is she a kidnapper and a murderess?) and the same quest for truth under all odds. If Kahaani's central conceit was constructed on a premise of lies, deception and pulling the rug from under our feet, Kahaani 2's story lies in her own story.

The film opens with Durga (or whoever it is) making ends meet as a single mother. Having overslept the morning, she makes a frantic dash to work, leaving her daughter in the care of an elderly neighbour. And as fate would have it, not only does her daughter gets kidnapped the very same day, Durga slips into coma after being hit by a taxi while rushing to save her. You are hooked. But director Sujoy Ghosh isn't just interested in telling a straightforward detective story. There is a larger social arc (about child sex abuse), and very soon the Kahaani switches from being an intriguing thriller to a drama. The pace slackens, glaring plotholes show up, and well before the it all ends, you know how it will end. Kahaani 2 may be no Kahaani, yet it merits a watch for its extraordinary performance from Vidya Balan.