Kaagaz 2 Review - The Late Satish Kaushik Deserves A Hug For His Final Passionate Project

Kaagaz 2 Review: V. K. Prakash directs a spiritual sequel to the 2021 flick Kaagaz, starring Darshan Kumaar, Anupam Kher, and Neena Gupta, along with Satish Kaushik in the final role he shot. Kaagaz 2 is not a direct sequel to Kaagaz, but a completely different story. I still quite didn't understand why they used the brand "Kaagaz" when the story was completely different and had literally nothing to do with the theme of "paper." But I must say they covered the whole thing very well by the end, as the film ends with an argument over the signed-paper work done by the government officials. Paper work is not enough; you have to put the work on the ground in reality. That's the whole thing Kaagaz 2 revolves around, besides family drama, legal drama, emotions, and, of course, common man's issues.Kaagaz 2 begins with Uday (Darshan Kumaar), who quits IMA due to ethical issues with the senior officer. Disturbed, he comes home and does not tell his mother about his resignation from IMA. Soon, his mother learns about it, and Uday has no choice but to turn to his father, Raj Narayan (Anupan Kher), whom he loathes. Raj Narayan needs a bone marrow and is unable to find a match. Uday learns about this from a house staff member and feels that he has been called here as a scapegoat. While leaving the town, he confronts Sushil Rastogi (Satish Kaushik), who tells him about a personal tragedy and how Raj Narayan is helping him to overcome that. It's not just about overcoming the tragedy but also about fighting for justice and letting some politicians know that they can't take common people for granted. Sushil is fighting a case against a local politician who is responsible for the death of his daughter. The legal fight is impossible unless Raj Narayan fights for him. The lawyer is always up for justice and truth. Will he be able to defeat the politicians and system that think that doing paper means a lot more than real action?Kaagaz 2 is hardly 2 hours long, and that's why it does not turn into a boring affair. The first is somewhat slow because it doesn't come to the point quickly. However, the second half is pacy and has a lot of dramatic scenes and a few emotional scenes as well. Kaagaz 2 has a solid ending with a meaningful climax that elevates the social message to the next level. It appeals to every common man to stand against injustice, and it even teaches a thing or two to the law and order system of India. On the negative side, the film suffers from unique storytelling as it follows all the old templates of scene-making. It looks outdated there, for sure.Performance-wise, I'd start with the late Satish Kaushik. The legend recently left us, but his work will remain with us forever. He has given another fine performance here. This one will remain a special one because it turned out to be his last (shoot-wise), and you'll feel like giving him a hug for it. Kaushik Ji has left a mark on the cinema industry with his work for over 4 decades, and even after hundreds of movies and roles, he still has one fine performance left for us in his last outing. The second-best performance comes from another legend, Mr. Anupam Kher. He knew the assignment and did so well. Darshan Kumaar is satisfactory but could've been better, as is Neena Gupta. Smriti Kalra plays the love interest of Darshan and finds enough space amongst others. Anang Desai and Kiran Kumar coming back to the screen through a well-known film is indeed a pleasant thing.In terms of technical aspects, Kaagaz 2 has a lot of issues. First, the camerawork is not that good. Two, the background and music both fail to make an impact. The production design seemed okay, but is okay enough nowadays? No. The editing is better comparatively, but nothing impressive despite a standard runtime. Kaagaz 2 has a motive, but somehow it doesn't fit well with the theme of Kaagaz. Despite so many arguments and constant pressure on the word "kaagaz," it fails to leave an impact. That's one of the biggest problems with the script and screenplay. V. K. Prakash takes us back to 2000s dramas, when the background score used to be loud for every tragic scene and lip sync fumbles and dubbing issues used to be visible. The film lacks modern vision and ideas of filmmaking that could have made it a better cinematic achievement. It falls there but is lifted by Satish Kaushik's powerful presence in his last passionate project. We still have Emergency coming as his last appearance on the big screen, but that's not a lead role. It's big enough to make us wait for it, though. Till then, watch Kaagaz 2 for him.

Note: We are not giving any ratings to the movie in the honour of Late Satish Kaushik. His work is bigger than our ratings.