Pushpa 2: The Rule Movie Review - Allu Arjun's film is flat, burnt out, battered

Movie Pushpa 2 The RuleUA Action thrillerDir SukumarCast Allu Arjun Fahadh Faasil Rashmika MandannaThe first five to 10 minutes of Pushpa 2 is in Japanese With Hindi subtitles in small Devanagari lettersThis is how Pushpa that is lsquoIcon Starrsquo Allu Arjun makes his first entrymdashhung upside down to a crane in a container terminalmdashtalking Japanese that he says hersquos learnt from mugging up a language manualWhat follows are the lsquomoney shotsrsquo namely action sequences pounding Japs by their jaws Money shots mainly being the point of this movie of course And there are quite a few decent ones actuallyFor instance a fleet of trucks carrying red sandalwood wading through a riverine route Or that bit where Pushpa bashes up the usual dentally challenged badly dressed baddies in an aerobatic fight scene with his legs and hands tied upLet alone the usual line of vehicles right from bullockcart caravans to the helicopter assembled for majestic effect The work of Polish cinematographer Mirosaw Kuba Broek on a uniformly semidark colourful palette canrsquot be ignoredThese nonsequitur money shots are obviously there because the money is Given this Telugu filmrsquos earthy rustic prequel had turned out to be a miraculous sleeper success across the country in 2021Making Hyderabad after the two Baahubalis a theatrical epicentre of sorts for a lsquopanIndiarsquo earthquake Unsurprisingly all the conversations around this Pushpa in particular is going to be about collections and commerce as wellThe only economic theory the filmmakers could have gained from though is the one on diminishing marginal utilityThat is the value of a money shot progressively declines if all sequences are an attempt at a climax Each gesture a style statement for the proppedup hero who makes a grand reentry after another entry with every bloody moment that hersquos on screenmdashpost that Japanese mumbojumbo in the cargo lot of courseForever anticipating the audiencersquos applause Just donrsquot push it na Pushpa Exhaustion sets in Have my eyes to the exit door But no must stayTherersquos a reason Irsquom here Among others firstly Fahadh Faasilmdasheverybodyrsquos favourite Malayalam star in a Telugu event picture playing a baldie Rajasthani cop Shekhawat speaking in a rustic semiHaryanvi twangThose who loved Fahadh in Aavesham wouldrsquove been particularly primed up for another boisterous act As promised in the first Pushpa where he entered late suggesting hersquoll stay for longer in the second He doesThis pic starts off and for a fair bit smartly stays its course as a relentless cop and chorthief chase PushpaAllu is of course the prototype of the angry young antihero that wersquove seen a few sinceAs a Godlike sandalwood smuggler perhaps modelled on Veerappan Pushpa plays his cards well inevitably outsmarting his OG nemesis ie Shekhawat while taking the pants off politicians These parts are actually fun I donrsquot know if this is what the filmmakers set out to make My eyes havenrsquot wavered from the screen yet Quite alert TBHAnd yet did I miss something At some point Pushpa 2 wholly segues into another film altogethermdashabout the abduction of the herorsquos niece Fahadh for no reason has disappeared As have the copsOne songdance routine follows another before a tight fight with Allursquos strange obsession with crossdressing in sarees taking over Of course he continues to beat humans to pulp But Irsquom sorry whatrsquos happening againIs there any other picture whose beginning has no relation to its middle and the endmdashwhich feels so far away that even as the script had no pointpurpose anyway the film carries on with the endcredits rolling at such top speed that the others whorsquove worked on it simply donrsquot matterI walked in at 1230 pm Itrsquos 415 Pushpa 2 is still on Whatrsquore we left with then but Allu ka parathamdashflat burnt out battered just like my brainMay as well just fawningly observe this unlikely hero thenmdashfully bejewelled around wrists neck with long rednail jutting out of his pinky fingerHersquos deliberately unkempt even when attempting some sorta style With one shoulder awkwardly raised he pouts when he talks as if therersquos paan in his mouth even where there isnrsquot weirdly rolling his tonguehellipNow I understand Allu like Telugu blockbusters itself can be an acquired taste No knock on public tastes Fire or flower Depends if yoursquore a followerIn fact Irsquom happy to be in a halfpacked hallmdashhaving rightly skipped the press preview plus samosa that movie critics often get disparaged in social media for selling their soul for a frickinrsquo free snackThe crowd in my hall has showed up on a Thursdayworkday afternoon Irsquom guessing theyrsquore in it for some desi 1980s style mad actionerPushpa 2 is evidently set in the late rsquo90s with Nokia Communicator and Motorola Razr as cellphones of choice cameras with Kodak rolls Pajero for preferred SUV and Vat 69 as the onscreen whiskyGot it No issues travelling back in time But how I do I retrieve the last four hours of my life yoRating 155

Pushpa 2: The Rule Movie Review - Allu Arjun's film is flat, burnt out, battered

Movie: Pushpa 2: The Rule
U/A: Action thriller
Dir: Sukumar
Cast: Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna

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Home / Entertainment / Regional Indian Cinema News / Article / Pushpa 2: The Rule Movie Review - Allu Arjun's film is flat, burnt out, battered

Pushpa 2: The Rule Movie Review - Allu Arjun's film is flat, burnt out, battered

Movie: Pushpa 2: The RuleU/A: Action thrillerDir: SukumarCast: Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Movie: Pushpa 2: The Rule
U/A: Action thriller
Dir: Sukumar
Cast: Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna