'KGF Chapter 2' teaser sets tone for epic conclusion

There was drama, confusion, curiosity, and excitement. The teaser of KGF: Chapter 2, the second and final instalment of the franchise, couldn’t have been released in any other manner than this. The first promotional video of the Yash-starrer opened to a thundering response from fans across the world after a small controversy.

Hombale Films’ plan of dropping the teaser on Friday to celebrate Yash’s 34th birthday took a jolt when some portions of the teaser got leaked on Twitter. Call it an unfortunate incident or a publicity gimmick, the KGF team decided to release it at 9:30 pm on Thursday itself to kill piracy. Fans, who waited to get a peek into the world of Rocky Bhai with bated breath, weren’t complaining. The sooner, the better they said.

Expectedly, the two minutes and 17 seconds video, smoked many records out of the park. Within 12 hours of the release, it crossed 25 million views. According to the film’s team, the teaser became the first in the world to get two million likes in 10 hours.

It’s been little over two years since the release of KGF: Chapter 1 and the fact that it has sustained enough buzz ahead of its sequels is a testimony to the film’s gigantic success. Now, the power-packed teaser has set the tone for the second part.

Director Prashanth Neel unabashedly and stylishly believes in hero-worshipping. He loves mounting his films on huge scales. If sequels are about raising the bar, then visuals of KGF: Chapter 2 are encouraging.

‘Powerful people come from powerful places', the dialogue from the classy narrator Anan Nag, had an irreplaceable quality to it. But trust KGF team to outdo themselves. Even though one may miss Anant Nag’s famous voice, Prakash Raj is equally impactful.

The new big Bollywood additions, Raveena Tandon and Sanjay Dutt, have minuscule screen time, perhaps a strategy to keep the audience intrigued till the trailer.

For those looking for the story, the teaser doesn’t reveal much. The main, Yash, is shown in all his glory. The superstar, who has garnered immense fans beyond Karnataka since the first part, blows up a string of police jeeps and lights up a cigarette with the hot machine gun.

The first part was powered by Yash’s personality and the swag he oozed on screen. The slow-motion scenes backed up Ravi Basrur’s ear-shattering background score make for a big-screen spectacle and despite the OTT, the makers have made it clear in the teaser that the film will opt for a theatrical release.

Apart from reactions from Sandalwood celebrities, a couple of big names from other industries showered praise on the team. “What a great trailer. Congrats to the team and Happy Birthday to you Yash!”, posted Hrithik Roshan on Twitter.

“Was waiting for this powerful teaser and now waiting to watch the film in theatres,” wrote Tamil hero Sivakarthikeyan on Twitter.

History has taught to not to expect much from sequels. The first part worked because of the novelty factor. As they wait to see the epic conclusion, fans would hope this line from the teaser will come true: "The promise will be kept."