Title: The Kerala Story 2
Director: Kamakhya Narayan Singh
Cast: Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia, Aishwarya Ojha, Sumit Gahlawat, Arjan Singh Aujla, Yuktam Khosla
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 3 Stars
The year 2023 saw the Adah Sharma starrer The Kerala Story, which went onto become one of the highest grossers. Will this week’s release The Kerala Story 2 be able to match up with its ‘predecessor’ and create box office history is what we will be finding out.
The film starts off with suicides in Kochi, Gwalior and Jodhpur. This is followed by the introduction of the three leading ladies - sportswoman Neha who has her eyes set on winning javelin championship at national level, a 16 year old influencer Divya who wants to make it big on social media as a dancer and Surekha Nair- a young bright spark who wants to make a name for herself in civil services.
Under various circumstances the trio fall in love with three Muslim men respectively. These young men present themselves as the men of their dreams… so much so that they sometimes even come across as too good to be true. No wonder then, Neha, Divya and Surekha fall in love with the three men, who… eventually get them converted through emotional means to embrace Islam.
Even though Neha, Divya and Surekha rebel against their respective parents … only to realise how wrong they were by not paying heed to their parents’ advice. Will Neha, Divya and Surekha be able to get back to ‘normalcy’, do the ‘culprits’ get punished and who were the helpless victims who were forced to end their lives is what gets revealed as the film progresses.
Actors’ performance
Much unlike The Kerala Story, The Kerala Story 2 has many relatively upcoming actresses. That just does not take away the fact that they have performed any less than the ‘known names’.
Leading the way are the three ladies Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia and Aishwarya Ojha who walk every possible mile to ensure that they deliver what has been expected of their respective characters. There is never a dull moment when the three ladies are on screen. All the three play their respective roles to near perfection. Emotions like love, rebellion and even anger flows organically from them. They also make sure that their characters do not look forced or thrusted.
Even though the ladies lead the way, one needs to mention about Sumit Gahlawat, Arjan Singh Aujla and Yuktam Khosla who ably carry the film’s narrative on their shoulders. Ditto for the film’s supporting actors who seemed to have been handpicked for their respective roles. They blend seamlessly with their respective characters.
Music and aesthetics
After having directed short films like Off The Grid, Ten Days South Africa, Justice Delayed But Delivered, the film’s director Kamakhya Narayan Singh impresses with his craft with The Kerala Story, which technically happens to be his second mainstream commercial film as a director.
There could have been many places where the film could have just gone astray. But, that’s when Kamakhya’s expertise as a filmmaker comes to the fore. He is surely a man to watch out for!
The film’s dialogues are decent and in sync with the narrative. One line that really stands out in the film is ‘Conversion toh door, woh log apni asli version bhi bhool jaayengey’! Even though the film’s editing (Sanjay Sharma) is decent, the film’s first half takes a long to establish the storyline and characters. It is here that the editor could have waved his ‘razor-sharp magic wand’!
The film’s music (Mannan Shaah) is in sync with the narrative (Amarnath Jha, Vipul Amrutlal Shah)… just like its background music (Mannan Shaah again). A special mention to the film’s climax, that is bound to give you goosebumps. Cinematography by Abhijeet Chaudhari is good.
FPJ verdict
Without generalising anyone or sounding preachy, the film acts as a mirror to the culprits and also a wake up call for many innocents. The release date controversy notwithstanding, the film is bound to grow majorly by word of mouth.
