Pushpa 2 The Rule review: There’s something about Sukumar’s Pushpa 2: The Rule that draws you in. It’s not the most innovative commercial film you’ve seen…it’s not the most woke film either. And yet, you can’t help but invest yourself in Allu Arjun’s Pushpa Raj and his journey for the unending 3-hours-20-minutes as he nurses an ego that was bruised when he was a child. Sometimes you smile, other times you huff in frustration, but either way, you’re strung along for the ride.
Pushpa 2: The Rule story
Pushpa 2: The Rule picks up where Pushpa: The Rise left off. Pushpa Raj (Arjun) is now a big-time red sanders smuggler. He lives in a lavish bungalow with his loving wife, Srivalli (Rashmika Mandanna) and his mother (Kalpalatha). He wears flashy shirts, jewellery, and sports a painted red nail now, as a sign of his economic status. Most of Chittoor moves to his tune because whatever he earns by illicit means, he’s free while giving away.
Yet, there are two thorns in his side that won’t go away. One is his half-brother Mohan Raj (Ajay), who takes every opportunity to call him illegitimate or humiliate him in public. The other is SP Bhanwar Singh Shekawath (Fahadh Faasil), whose ego and classism are always on full display. Neither gives him the respect he deserves, no matter what he does. But there’s only so much he can take without retaliating.
Pushpa 2: The Rule review
With Pushpa 2: The Rule, Sukumar corrects some of the flaws he ignored in Pushpa: The Rise. The heart of his film has always been Pushpa’s childhood trauma as a boy who just wants respect and acceptance for himself and his mother. And while it’s fun to see the character come unto his own when it comes to running an illegal syndicate, the film shines when it focuses on what makes the character tick. While funny and whistle-inducing, the back-and-forth between Pushpa and Bhanwar is not where it’s the best.
The film kicks off well, packing a punch – quite literally – in the first half and serving you a full-plate meal that makes you want more. It’s not that logic, or even physics, is driving the story or the fight scenes, but Srivalli has asked something of Pushpa, and you want him to achieve that irrespective of the stakes. But it’s in the second half where the film falters a little. You scratch your head and wonder where it’s all heading. And as the cat is out of the bag already, the film also detours to hastily set up a new challenge for Pushpa 3: The Rampage.
Allu Arjun and Pushpa Raj
There’s no two ways about this, Pushpa 2 would not be the same without Arjun giving it his all. The actor has committed his life to this character for five years now, and he seems so comfortable in the character’s skin this time. He’s much more confident now when he says ‘thaggede le’ (I won’t back down) and a lot more vulnerable with his pain, especially with Srivalli. Arjun deftly softens Pushpa’s edges, making it easier to root for him. It also helps that Sukumar writes him some brilliant scenes, you get the wildfire you’re promised.
Pushpa 2 drives home the point that no matter what the character achieves in life, he will always be the little boy who his own family shunned. Arjun wears his heart on his sleeve and pain on his face. Everything Pushpa does, every new experience in his life, will always lead him back to his trauma. This is brilliantly underlined in a scene set at the Gangamma Thalli jatara where what’s supposed to be your run-of-the-mill happy moment turns into something much deeper, not to mention, visually brilliant. The climax, while contrived in its setup, banks completely on Arjun drawing you in with his performance, all while he’s fighting for his life.
The world of Pushpa 2: The Rule
Much like Pushpa: The Rise, Pushpa 2: The Rule takes the pain of setting up characters, only to eventually sideline them. Or worse, use them as a means to an end that adds nothing much to the larger story. Characters played by Rao Ramesh, Jagapathi Babu, Tarak Ponnappa meet a similar fate. Given how much he antagonises Pushpa, Fahadh’s character could’ve been a little more fleshed out.
And then there’s the women. Unfortunately, Srivalli seems to be an extension of Geethanjali from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal. She will pout when she’s mad, be demure, serve food, hype up her man when she’s happy and have ‘peelings’ for him at inopportune times, but nothing beyond that. Thankfully, Srivalli gets one good monologue to defend her husband, which stays with you because Rashmika pulls it off well.
Pavani Karanam is relegated to being a damsel-in-distress trope; the less said about it, the better. Dakshayani (Anasuya Bharadwaj) is initially given something to chew on (even if her wig is as bad as ever). Still, she’s eventually as sidelined as her husband Mangalam Srinu (Sunil), who’s relegated to praising Pushpa.
In conclusion
To give credit where it’s due, Devi Sri Prasad’s music – even massy songs like Peelings and Kissik (hard to take your eyes off Sreeleela) – surprisingly fit well into the narrative without hindering the story’s flow. At no point do you wonder why the director couldn’t have just skipped the song and moved along. Miroslaw Kuba Brozek’s cinematography gives you some lush, colourful frames that stick with you, especially in the jatara scene.
At the end of it all, Pushpa 2: The Rule is entertaining, makes you chuckle and also feel something for its titular character, even if not flawless and has a shallow message about women’s safety. And when you don’t notice a runtime as long as this one, that’s a win.
