A thriller gone bad

Kahaani 2
Hindi (U/A) Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Jugal Hansraj

In one of the early sequences, we see Vidya Sinha (Vidya Balan) in an office. Her name is called out many times. She cares little, as she is occupied with things related to her teenage daughter. The name is repeated so many times that it could not simply be a coincidence. A thought is being reiterated here: that her name is Vidya.

Vidya is a single mother with a teenage daughter. Her daughter is paralysed from waist down, and her job does not seem to be one that provides her with enough money to provide the required help for the daughter, although she is trying desperately. When her daughter is suddenly kidnapped, things go for a toss. There seems to be a mistake. The people who have kidnapped the daughter seems to think that Vidya is Durga Rani Singh, a clerk in a school in Kalimpong, who committed a murder and kidnapped a child.

Vidya soon meets with an accident, and slips into a coma. The police inspector (Arjun Rampal) who comes to investigate the accident seems to identify her as Durga, too. Who is this Durga, and why is everyone confusing her with Vidya?

So begins this suspense thriller directed by Sujoy Ghosh, with Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal and Jugal Hansraj playing the lead characters. The first half of the movie is excellent. It shows a lady’s investigation into a case of child abuse. Child abuse is one of the major issues the society is facing today, and the movie manages to treat it with sensitivity, while integrating the theme into the suspense thread of the movie very well. The character played by Vidya is very well constructed. She is reclusive person, with an unhappy childhood and a painful past, and is trying to come to terms with her present. She identifies deeply with the little girl who is subjected to sexual abuse.

It is unfortunate that the second half of the film is a lot less interesting and a lot more convoluted. A film that begins with a great story and social relevance ends with little more to offer than the average Bollywood drama does.

The acting, the setting and the way it captures Kalimpong is great, but the ending, the humour, and the plot twists leave the audience wanting more.