‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ Review: Tour De Force Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil

At the exact point where logic stops working, where mass movies’ first shot is taken. The much talked about Sukumar directed Pushpa 2: The Rule starring Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil, second part of the trend setter Pushpa: The Rule, also falls in the category, a massive mass movie project made for the myth and the expectations created on Pushpa Raj and his expeditions. When Allu Arjun repeats what he has done in the part one – a national award winning performance -, it’s a Fahadh Faasil show, an acting tour de force.

Sukumar, in Pushpa 2: The Rise, replicates what his industry counterparts excel in creating masala segments that capture viewers’ imagination, especially with superhuman action scenes, ultra cinematic twists, grandeur and large and crowded visuals. Taking a break from his raw and rustic tone visuals of Pushpa: The Rise and Rangasthalam, using the magical camera of Miroslaw Kuba Brozek, he goes full colourful coating the screen will all possible hues.

Also Read:Arya To Pushpa: Sukumar – The Mastermind Behind Tollywood’s Biggest Hits

Pushpa director Sukumar (Image: YouTube/T-Series)

Sukumar had a huge challenge in building up on the already disclosed larger than life narrative of Pushpa Raj. As Rashmika’s Shivalli tries to elaborate in Pushpa 2, the writer-director’s responsibility was to expand or elaborate ‘The Brand Pushpa’. Here, Sukumar is both successful and unsuccessful: Pushpa becomes more ruthless and powerful, but the archetypal execution undermines the power, and at times leaves the audience in splits.

In Part 1, Pushpa’s origin story, from a poor boy who has no address or identity to becoming the chief of an underworld syndicate, unravels in greater detail, but, in Part 2, the viewer is left to watch sandalwood being exported to places and Pushpa repeatedly defeating and mimicking Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil’s police officer character) without much development in the storyline. In this story as well, Pushpa’s major vulnerability remains when someone mocks him of his origins, in another words, (in a lighter note) if the writer had found a way to find solution for this, the audience wouldn’t be wasting almost four hours.

Fahadh Faasil in Pushpa 2: The Rule (Image: YouTube.com/T-Series)

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As expected, Fahadh Faasil has delivered a career defining performance on which the pan India audience will now talk about the before and after Pushpa Fahadh. Earlier, Pushpa’s rise was fairly simple, because of the lack of a staunch opponent, but here, though not with the power of the screenplay, Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, who has a long and detailed role, stands upon only with the strength of acting brilliance. As Shekhawat, Fahadh smells the roses to be many characters that the Malayalam audience or his fans from across the world  have seen him in 22 Female Kottayam (2012), Annayum Rasoolum (2013), Amen (2013), Bangalore Days (2014), Iyobinte Pusthakam (2014), Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016), Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017), Kumbalangi Nights (2019) and Trance (2020) in the past.

Fahadh is given the chance to explore all emotions, and the talented actor seizes the occasion to deliver and thus captivate the audience with his versatality.

Also Read: Watch Pushpa 2 In Any Language Of Your Choice With Cinedubs

Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna in Pushpa 2: The Rule (Image: YouTube.com/T-Series)

Albeit the disappointing space the female characters had been given in the first part, Pushpa 2 has managed to accommodate the ladies well enough in scenes and detailing. Rashmika Mandanna’s Shivalli has been given enough room for performance, and the actress took advantage of the opportunity really well. Anasuya Bharadwaj’s repeating character Dakshayani is effective as one of the antagonists who is seen scheming against Pushpa.

Music by Devi Sri Prasad, a Sukumar regular, remains a damp squib, except for the beautiful ‘Angaaron’ song and some occasional background scores that elevated the mood in the action sequences.

One major question remains is what is it going to be the legacy of Pushpa and Allu Arjun. Will Pushpa be the Velu Naikkar (Nayakan) or Bahubali or Rocky (KGF) in the sense of long lasting effect a character can create? With the popularity and the marketing, Pushpa will be a legend and the character is going to have an enduring impact. Since it is full on Allu Arjun show, the energy and the delivery of the star actor is the major highlight of the movie, and it will be etched in the memory of the moviegoers as one of the powerful characters from Telugu film industry as well as the actor’s.

Also, read| ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ Pre Sale Records: Allu Arjun-Rashmika’s Film Collects Rs 42 Crores

Timeline Verdict: Though the story is not offering anything new and unreasonably dragged for almost four hours, Pushpa 2: The Rule is an ultimate Allu Arjun show with positively complimented by a Fahadh Faasil master piece.

Pushpa 2: The Rule Crew

Director, writer: Sukumar

Cast: Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil, Jagapathi Babu, Rao Ramesh, Saurabh Sachdeva, Anasuya Bharadwaj, Sunil, Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari

Cinematographer: Miroslaw Kuba Brozek

Editor: Naveen Nooli

Music: Devi Sri Prasad