Pushpa 2: The Rule

violence, gore, sex-related content

• Cast: Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rao Ramesh, Rashmika Mandanna, Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari…
• Director, Writer: Sukumar
• Music Director: Devi Sri Prasad, Thaman, Sam CS, Ajaneesh Loknath

Pushpa thrives in his smuggling business, but when Srivalli asks him to take a picture with the Chief Minister, the CM refuses. In his attempt to fulfill her wish, Pushpa intensifies his rivalry with Shekhawat, Mangalam Seenu, and Daksha, making new enemies along the way.

The story is well thought out, but the character writing could have been tighter to maintain consistency. While the film invests heavily in foreshadowing and setup, the characters themselves often change to serve the plot, grand set pieces, or comedy rather than staying true to their established traits. The business side of the story feels slightly more cohesive compared to the emotional arc.

• Direction: The supporting characters in this movie aren’t given much attention, making their interactions and scenes feel artificial and flat. While the first half of the movie flows well following the first fight, the second half loses momentum again. The forced comedy detracted from the seriousness of the villains, making them less impactful. By focusing too much on Allu Arjun, the film sidelines characters who could have added emotional depth. Instead they were reduced to mere props leaving key moments feeling hollow.
• Acting: Once again cast as the partner to a hypermasculine lead, Rashmika shines in conveying Srivalli’s desire and devotion to Pushpa throughout the film. Although her performance falters slightly toward the end of her monologue, she remains fully committed to bringing Srivalli to life, even in song sequences. For a film that is a sequel, this was not Allu Arjun’s strongest performance. This may be partly due to the lack of substance in certain scenes, leaving him with little to draw from. Despite the writing limitations, Fahadh Faasil, Sunil, and Anasuya deliver stellar performances.
• Cinematography: The cinematography is hit or miss, depending on the scene. The ‘more is more’ concept is used, but it doesn’t always work. The scenes surrounding the business storyline were well portrayed.
• Production Design: The production design in Pushpa 2 presents a mix of successes and shortcomings. One of the key moments – transporting the 2000 tons of red sandalwood – was a significant win for Puspha. The depiction of the logs in the lorries, however, was too artificial to be proportionately impactful. They should have stopped at showing the lorries through the close shots only. The costumes were well thought out and added a layer of authenticity. Despite the presence of multiple sets, a good amount of effort went into their creation. That said, more work is needed to ensure international scenes aren’t stereotypical or racially insensitive. Inconsistencies in Srivalli’s skin tone affected the overall visual cohesion.
  Unfortunately, some resources were misdirected, with entire productions devoted to Kissik and Peelings. Peelings, arising out of an intimate interaction between Puspha and Srivalli, was an opportunity to deepen their relationship to the audience but was an unnecessary spectacle. Whereas, Gango Renuka Thalli, one of the film’s early selling points highlighted in teasers and posters, didn’t quite meet expectations in terms of technical execution.
• Editing: There are some strong transitions, particularly when the film moves back and forth between Pushpa’s present and past. Unfortunately, this smoothness does not carry over to the narration of the present where the pace feels inconsistent, demanding patience from the audience and forcing them to catch up at various points. 
• Music: The music in this film outshines the movie itself, with a strong background score that elevates the experience. The songs are catchy, though misplaced. Overall, the music feels more impactful than in Pushpa. The background score during the final fight is especially excellent, adding significant intensity to the scene.
• Dialogues: Dialogue writing was one of the weaker aspects of the film. There were too many agendas that were being addressed, ultimately diverting attention away from the story. Pushpa’s character elevations, in particular, pulled focus and disrupted the flow of the narrative.
• Themes: This story explores the theme of power and the lengths people will go to both maintain and expand their control.

• For a film with such a lengthy runtime, it still relies on poor exposition to communicate and set the scene
  • If Pushpa and his family are well established and integrated with the temple, why doesn’t the pujari know that they don’t have a gothranaamam?
  • When Pushpa dresses up in costume, Srivalli doesn’t know that people believe dancing in feminine clothing grants wishes. This is inconsistent with her character’s understanding.
• Pushpa’s character writing is intriguing. He remains consistently self-centered, egotistical, ambitious, and theatrical – everything he does revolves around his own feelings and desires.
  • Scenes like Gango Renuka Thalli, the mime conversation ending with the rickshaw exploding, and the pool scene where he urinates are prime examples of his theatrical nature
  • The recurring storylines of the helicopter are good callbacks to his story in Pushpa providing continuity
  • Although Pushpa talks about sending Shekhawat to another district, he wants Shekhawat to stay. He enjoys outsmarting him so much that he would rather continue their rivalry, even though Shekhawat became an active threat to the syndicate
  • Similarly, Pushpa invites Jaali Reddy to fight with him after becoming stronger, reinforcing his need for dominance
  • Pushpa’s need for validation is emphasized by the moment he collapses to the floor after Mohan invites him to Kaveri’s wedding. While his priorities are questionable, his need to prove himself worthy make sense from a lens of ego and toxic masculinity.
  • All of this is underlined by the fact that Pushpa has little self-awareness. He promises Srivalli he will retire, yet immediately tells Jaali Reddy to return once he is stronger. Though he mentions handing off the business to Kesava, he overlooks the fact that his smuggling empire is intertwined with his many enemies (Jaali Reddy, Shekhawat, Mangalam Seenu, Daksha, and Pratap Reddy). In the moment, he may genuinely believe that he’ll retire, but he is deluding himself.
  • The real question remains, will he be there for Srivalli when her needs extend beyond business and political ambitions?
• Some characters and scenes disrupted the film’s rhythm
  • The woman in the Maldives with Hameed was unnecessary, as her role was limited to emphasizing Pushpa’s allure.
  • The explosion after the wildfire dialogue could have been set up more effectively. The mime comedy was too long, was out of character, and lacked humor.
  • I don’t think Sooseki added much depth to Srivalli and Pushpa’s relationship. It was odd with the couple dancing in the middle of what is supposedly a jathara.
  • The first fight sequence in the first half was too long and boring.
  • Continuity was also an issue
    • During Gango Renuka Thalli, Pushpa randomly moves around the temple. The song looked like disconnected shots strung together. For a song that is, once again, a selling point for the movie, this was underwhelming.
    • The amount of wood seems to reduce significantly as the wood is moved from the trucks to the carts, and finally into the water.
    • When the wood is being transported to Sri Lanka, the film depicts each coast as visible from the other through binoculars, yet the arrival of the international border guard feels abrupt. In such a limited area, why didn’t we see them approaching?
• The songs were disconnected from the narrative
  • The choreography in Peelings was exaggerated to the point of parody. The awkward chemistry between Pushpa and Srivalli made it feel forced. Srivalli appeared fully invested, while Pushpa didn’t reciprocate her energy, even leaning away from her in at least one shot.
  • The chemistry between Sreeleela’s character and Pushpa is nonexistent during Kissik. The jarring choreography and odd direction didn’t help.
• Religion was clumsily inserted into the storyline with little narrative justification. 
  • The scenes of Srivalli visiting the temple and the rituals in the forest by Pushpa’s employees were suppsed to be a setup but they didn’t make sense
  • The temple scene was unnecessarily prolonged having two back-to-back songs. The time could have been better utilized to explain what was happening. There’s no context to why the new villain enters the way he does.  The priority to set up Pushpa’s final fight strictly through Gango Renuka Thalli overtook coherent storytelling.
• Indian cinema should practice and model cultural sensitivity before incorporating international settings
  • Why does a group full of criminals in Japan only wield katanas and barely any guns?
• Supporting characters suffer in the sequel to accommodate Pushpa’s elevations and comedy
  • Shekhawat extreme efforts to catch Pushpa legally are reduced to a joke
    • There are glimpses of Shekhawat’s former menace – when he clings to Kuppu Raju, urgning him to die alongside him in the fire and when he pushes Bicha Reddy over the bridge
  • Mangalam Seenu comes close to taking over the syndicate but he is repeatedly trivialized. 

Maybe.

Allu Arjun fans and people that connect with traditionally patriarchal values can enjoy this movie.

• Even Pushpa’s delusion and drama couldn’t explain his saying, “phir bhi dil hai hindustani,” in the middle of a fight
• It is pretty clear that Kaveri only has dialogue so that she can be victimized later on in the movie
• The POV of this movie is emphasized after the Srivalli’s monologue following Gango Renuka Thalli. After her monologue and while the head shaving was going on, Ajay’s reaction is not shown – this could have added more to their dynamic but there was no space for that
• If a person does not know or have a gothram, priests use Bhagwan gothra, Kashyapa gothra or other gothras usually referring to being of God’s lineage. The scenes emphasizing Pushpa not being able to claim his paternal lineage were forced into the script when in truth, in his line of work and his lifestyle, it wouldn’t come up that often.
• “Ammoru thaandavam” – just no. That dialogue definitely did not need to make it to the final cut – it was extremely cringeworthy
• What is the appeal of defying physics to swing on a rope? Following the steps of Sarileru Neekevaru and Devara – Pushpa during the fight in Japan spontaneously starts swinging widely after hanging still.
• ‘Dhuddu’ as the only word from a niche dialect used by characters like Pratap Reddy and the Japanese smuggler was nonsensical.
• Pushpa changes into a plain pant and shirt right before flying to Bugga Reddy, while it matched the saree well, it’s not clear if the costume change had deeper meaning. This was the only time he was dressed in one color.

• Movie Rating: 5/10
• Maguva Impact Scale: -1