What
makes
Pushpa
2
float
is
Allu
Arjun’s
magnetic
performance.
The
actor
really
goes
an
extra
mile
to
deliver
the
wildfire
he
promised,
observes
Mayur
Sanap.
The
opening
stretch
of
Pushpa:
The
Rule
has
Allu
Arjun
dangling
upside
down.
He
is
Pushpa,
the
notorious
criminal
from
Andhra
Pradesh,
who
has
come
far
away
from
homeland
to
put
the
record
straight
with
the
Japanese
smuggling
gang.
A
series
of
slow-mo
shots
and
some
heavy
dialoguebaazi
later,
Pushpa
is
shot
in
the
chest
and
then
cut
to
Chittoor
where
the
actual
story
unfolds.
This
entire
Japan
episode
is
never
brought
up
again
neither
do
we
know
how
Pushpa
escaped
with
his
injuries,
or
how
the
red
sandalwood
smuggling
syndicate,
that
Pushpa
is
now
a
leader
of,
mapped
out
international
waters.
Truth
is,
the
makers
do
not
care
about
these
details
either,
where
logic
is
exchanged
for
spectacle.
You
realise
the
cool-looking
action
set
piece
you
saw
earlier
on
was
just
an
excuse
for
the
hero’s
mass
entry.
And
that
is
essentially
the
fuel
Pushpa:
The
Rule
runs
on.
The
story
moves
without
any
real
sense
of
plot
and
characterisation.
So
what
we
have
is
this
superficial
concept
that
plays
like
the
fan
service
of
highest
order.
Is
fan
service
a
bad
thing?
Certainly
not!
Especially
for
a
film
like
this
that
left
a
huge
cultural
impact
back
in
2021.
The
sequel
arrives
three
years
later,
which
is
promises
to
take
ahead
the
legend
of
Pushpa
Raj,
but
delivers
only
the
celebration
of
Allu
Arjun,
the
superstar.
If
you
are
willing
to
savour
that,
like
all
the
frenzied
audience
in
my
show
were,
you
will
have
a
blast.
For
anything
else,
Pushpa
2
is
a
bloated
spectacle
that
can’t
decide
what
it
wants
to
be
other
than
an
Allu
Arjun
vehicle.
The
story
beings
where
the
first
film
left
off.
We
see
Pushpa
Raj
(Allu
Arjun)
scaling
new
heights
as
he
continues
to
rise
from
a
street-smart
daily
wage
labourer
to
a
key
figure
in
the
red
sandalwood
smuggling
syndicate.
He
lives
in
a
fancy
bungalow
in
Chittoor
with
his
wife
Srivalli
(Rashmika
Mandanna)
and
mother
(Kalpalatha).
His
flamboyant
attire,
jewellery
and
spiky
hairdo
show
off
his
newly-acquired
economic
status.
Despite
all
the
luxuries
at
his
disposal,
Pushpa
is
throttled
by
disdain
he
receives
from
half-brother
Mohan
Raj
(Ajay),
who
scoffs
at
Pushpa
for
being
an
‘illegitimate’
child.
Another
trigger
point
is
the
police
officer
Bhanwar
Singh
Shekawat
(Fahadh
Faasil),
who
won’t
stop
at
anything
to
seek
revenge
for
Pushpa
hurting
his
ego.
The
cat-and-mouse
game
intensifies
between
the
two
men
when
Pushpa
brazenly
challenges
Shekhawat
to
stop
him
from
smuggling
the
large
freight
of
red
sanders
out
of
the
country.
Meanwhile,
Pushpa
also
harbours
plans
to
make
his
trusted
aide
MP
Siddhappa
(Rao
Ramesh)
the
next
chief
minister
as
the
current
CM
refuses
to
pose
with
Pushpa
for
a
picture.
Director
Sukumar,
who
has
also
written
the
story,
whisks
together
multi-genre
elements
of
an
action
film,
crime
fiction,
and
family
drama
that
basically
feels
like
Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham
on
steroids.
All
this,
while
catering
to
AA’s
star
image.
The
film
designs
a
plot
that
is
as
dense
as
the
forest
where
it
was
shot
but
once
you
dig
beneath
the
surface,
it’s
all
fundamentally
basic
and
predictable,
strung
together
by
a
very
flimsy
script.
Sukumar
tries
to
offer
a
little
bit
of
everything
in
his
incoherently
busy
script
but
instead,
it
amounts
to
a
lot
of
nothing.
Over
its
whopping
3-hours-20-minutes
runtime
(that’s
20
minutes
more
than
Oppenhemier),
we
are
subjected
to
endless
servings
of
extravagantly
over-designed
set
pieces
and
scenes
of
random
mayhem
that
lean
too
heavily
on
AA’s
star
aura
to
hide
its
lack
of
substance.
And
if
at
any
point
you’re
drifting
away,
Devi
Sri
Prasad’s
eardrum
splitting
BGM
will
make
sure
to
keep
you
awake.
What
makes
Pushpa
2
float
is
Allu
Arjun’s
magnetic
performance,
really
the
sprightly
bunny
of
this
world.
In
a
few
bright
moments
when
Pushpa
2
works
that
is
only
because
this
performance
works.
The
actor
really
goes
an
extra
mile
to
deliver
the
wildfire
he
promised.
Him
dressed
up
as
Goddess
Kali
and
emanating
fury
is
viscerally
exciting,
and
sets
up
the
film’s
most
memorable
sequence
later
on.
It
is
a
ferocious
performance
and
AA
makes
it
all
work
even
in
moments
when
you
scratch
your
head
wondering
where
it’s
all
leading
to.
The
crushing
disappointment
is
Fahadh
Faasil
whose
deranged
cop
Shekhawat
could
have
been
so
much
more.
What
was
hinted
as
epic
showdown
between
him
and
Pushpa
ends
up
a
lukewarm
ego
clash
that
fails
to
achieve
the
desired
launching
effect
of
their
dynamic.
Without
anything
significant
to
play
around
his
character,
Faasil
is
relegated
to
generic
villain,
whose
memo,
I
doubt,
was
to
show
a
variation
of
Ranga
from
Aavesham.
In
a
course
correction
of
sorts,
Sukumar
holds
himself
back
from
rampant
misogyny
of
the
first
film
with
Rashmika’s
character.
Srivalli
is
a
hard-boiled
masala
heroine
who
is
shown
to
have
some
agency
in
the
men’s
world.
But
again,
it
is
not
as
consistent.
While
she
takes
authority
for
what’s
right
for
her
in
a
few
scenes,
for
most
part
she
is
seen
as
a
dedicated
wifey
who
serves
food
to
her
husband
and
has
‘peelings’
for
him
at
the
most
random
times,
while
making
a
way
for
odd
product
placements
for
Daawat
Rice
and
Kalyan
Jewellers!
The
other
female
characters,
such
as
Anasuya
Bharadwaj
as
the
scheming
rival
and
Pavani
Karanam
as
Pushpa’s
niece,
play
cardboard
characters
who
solely
exist
to
hype
up
Pushpa’s
bravado.
The
worst
of
them
remains
Sreeleela
who
makes
an
appearance
in
the
film’s
much
hyped
Kissik
song,
with
genius
lyrics
that
goes:
‘Thappad
maarungi
saala
thappad
maarungi,
thapa
thapa
thappad
maarungi‘
and
then
continuing
to
whatever
that
‘Kiss,
kiss,
kissik
ka‘
means.
I
am
sure
even
the
hardcore
Telugu
fans
would
cringe
at
this
top-tier
non-sense.
Overall,
Pushpa:
The
Rule
remains
a
resounding
celebration
of
everything
fans
love
about
their
favorite
superstar.
The
hastily
announced
next
sequel
confirms
that
many
more
of
this
will
be
flung
our
way.
Why
would
the
makers
stop
milking
the
fan
bases,
anyway?
Pushpa:
The
Rule
Review
Rediff
Rating:
