Pushpa: The Rule - Part 2

Positives:

1. Acting:

• A masterclass performance by Allu Arjun.

• Rashmika does a decent job, managing to hold her own.

• Fahadh Faasil plays his role aptly and seems to enjoy it, but his character design is somewhat concerning and lacks the depth it had in the first part.

2. Cinematography:

• The movie features clean cinematic visuals, with excellent drone captures of stunning aerial shots.

• The overall quality is top-notch, with a well-maintained tone throughout.

3. Jathara Sequence:

• A standout sequence where all departments excelled, creating a memorable artistic moment.

• Allu Arjun shines in this sequence, delivering an emotionally charged performance. His dance conveys raw emotions, and his eyes reflect his character's deep longing.

Negatives: 1. Lack of a Strong Story:

• The biggest issue is the absence of a meaningful storyline.

• The movie heavily relies on ego clashes rather than building a compelling narrative.

• The screenplay is a significant blunder, with scenes that seem random and disconnected, leading to abrupt transitions without proper justification.

2. Direction and Screenwriting:

• Sukumar appears to have lost clarity, as the film prioritizes everything but progression.

• The lack of focus results in a series of events that feel aimless and repetitive.

3. Music:

• Sam CS's background score adds no value to the movie.

• The music is underwhelming, failing to elevate the scenes and often making even good moments feel dull.

• The absence of DSP's exceptional work from the first part is deeply felt.

4. Unrealistic Action:

• Pushpa defies Earth's gravity, leaping with a smooth, space-like motion that feels overly exaggerated and disconnected from reality.

5. Excessive Time Taken:

• It's baffling that a movie of this quality took three years to make. With genuine effort and dedication, it could have been completed in six months.

The storyline is not good. There are many scenes that are included with no specific reason like the starting when Pushpa is in Japan and fights people there and the scene goes on for like 10 minutes, only for him to wake up (it was just a dream...). It also shows Pushpa is scared of water there because of a past experience. But that scene too has no relevance to any other part of the story whatsoever.

The only thing good about this movie was the action scenes which has impressive camera angles and dramatic effects although the fights were overexaggerated (gets a pass 'cause South Indian film)

I want to keep this review short because I am already exhausted because of this movie's running time. I wasn't a great fan of Pushpa: The Rise, it made the money mainly because it somehow managed to impress the North Indian demographic with its unapologetic portrayal of a loud lead actor. Pushpa 2: The Rule continues to do the same in a louder, bigger, lengthier and only at certain times, better.

Pushpa: The rise ended on a promising note with the introduction of the menacing Fahadh Faasil as Bhanwar Singh Shekawat. This movie does focus on the battle between Shekawat and Pushpa but becomes more of a cat and mouse game pretty soon. The back and forth conning sequences become repetitive and Shekawat's role slowly turns into a comedy gag while Pushpa's role keeps getting larger than life. There are certain parts of the movie which clearly look like they are rewritten just to increase the scale of the movie. In the latter part of the second half, the movie takes a U turn from the cat and mouse angle to become an action family sentiment drama with the introduction of the new antagonists. This leads to an impressive but a stereotypical action climax which would have fit well if the whole movie had the same tone.

Certain scenes from the teaser and trailer aren't found in this 200 minute long movie and Sukumar which makes you wonder whether Sukumar really did intend to end with a scope opening for Part 3.

This is definitely Allu Arjun's career best performance, the man has given it all. But after a while you also wonder if you may have seen him too much into Pushpa's character, you miss the old charming AA. While Rashmika is impressive you can sense that Sukumar has rewritten Rashmika''s character and the scenes around Allu Arjun hyping her because of the negative feedback received on her objectification in Part 1. However, the objectification continues to exist in the song and dance sequences and also fitting in an unnecessary item song bringing in Sreeleela. While Fahadh Faasil's role scope changes in this movie, he is still impressive with his maniac comedy. The chemistry between Shekawat and Pushpa at times is so fun that I wouldn't complain if there is a spin-off comedy movie around that. There is not much to speak about the remaining supporting characters who are part of this movie as an extravaganza.

Pushpa 2: The rule is an unnecessarily lengthy character montage for Allu Arjun with one hype scene after another. It may be fun for a certain demographic, but it lacks the soul of a typical South Indian mass movie.

Tone, Script & Story: The story continues from part one and this time Pushpa has a chance to earn in thousands of crores of rupees. This time if he wins he even has a chance to even buy the government.

I found the second part more comforting than the maiden one. The reason is getting use to the name. It may be normal in south but for me it changed the whole concept of movie for something else. I did not expect an action thriller from a macho as portrayed. This was different in part two for I had accepted what it is.

The makeup as shown in posters is the best eye candy movie has for it along with song bring best scene in movie. It along with instances involving his wife bring ones emotions when they are projected.

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: The containers, the trucks, the jungle, the police station, the celebration, the action scenes, the river, etc all have been captured well. Justified efforts in direction to make it an entertainer. Music: Below average. Acting: Justified.

Final Verdict: If you are a fan of action thriller under the image of a heroic personality you will love it. For me it's just a onetime encounter.

This film could have been finished in two and a half hours. But the script of the film has been wasted by adding more spices. Taking advantage of the popularity of the first part, a simple script has been forced on the audience.

In this episode, Allu Arjun is shown ruling the syndicate. But the fact that the hero changes the government of the state is not digestible. Some questions are unanswered. Rashmika Mandhana is only seen shaking her head. It is not clear until the end what dialogue she is mumbling.

Now it is certain that the third part will come. I hope the directors will correct their mistake by giving a good script and dialogues.