The unbearable weight of massive stardom: Drawing parallels between Pushpa 2 and KGF Chapter 2  

It is beautiful how Pushpa and Rocky Bhai are two sides of the same coin. Two underdogs. Two bearded and super strong men. Two characters exuding unabashed charisma. Two people whose biggest weaknesses are the women in their lives. Two nobodies who became kingmakers with unlimited power. Two powerful people who made people around almost deify them even when being accessible. Two alpha males who stood their ground against an entire system that was out to get them. And yet, Pushpa and Rocky Bhai couldn’t have been more different.

ALSO READ | Pushpa 2 The Rule review: Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil film chokes under the weight of performance pressure 

What Prashanth Neel and Yash did with Rocky was to create a fictional lawless world thereby cutting down on the presence of a legal system to keep a check on anything that went down in that place. This gave Rocky the freedom to punch, kick, and slaughter his way to the top. There was little tactical acumen on display. It was just brute force. It was pure violence, and the smokescreen of saving people from an oppressive regimen. 

While Prashanth Neel helmed the KGF movies, Sukumar directed the Pushpa films.

In contrast, Sukumar and Allu Arjun devised Pushpa as a commoner with an arrogant core. An arrogance that came from neglect. Pushpa didn’t have to fight to exist in that world, but he had to fight to be respected. What drove Pushpa to the top of the food chain wasn’t always his need to conquer the world. It was a simple need to be respected… for his talent, for his power, and for his lineage. His arguments, his fights, his wars… were all fought because of his incessant need to prove to the world that his brand was legitimate. 

But make no mistake, both Pushpa and Rocky Bhai are two sides of the same coin, mainly because both start off at the same point. 

The promised land

The journeys of Rocky and Pushpa start off with a promise. A promise to not let anything come in the way of their dreams. The dream to become the top dog and have the world under their feet. What made Pushpa more endearing than Rocky Bhai is that the world of these characters were different. Pushpa wanted his relatives to respect him and his mother. Pushpa wanted the smuggling syndicate bosses to respect him and his talent. Pushpa wanted the police to respect him, and, in turn, the police wanted the criminal Pushpa to not call the shots. That is why Pushpa: The Rise is a brilliant setup that creates two fascinating characters that are primed to be at loggerheads in the sequel. 

In comparison, in KGF 1, we only see the ascension of Rocky Bhai, and it almost feels like a video game where one antagonist is vanquished for the bigger and better one to come in the next level. It was almost like watching Rocky, on auto pilot mode, decimate one villain and move on to the next with alarming precision. This over-the-top appeal of the character appealed to the masses because here was a character that came from nowhere and won our hearts simply because there was no baggage.

Outside Kannada cinema, not all knew about Yash, and it was through Rocky Bhai that we got introduced to the Rocking Star. So, when Sukumar decides to strip the Stylish star off his style and give the Icon Star a new persona, it worked better for Pushpa 1 because it was fascinating to see Allu Arjun transform into Pushpa. We accepted Yash as Rocky Bhai instantly. We had to unlearn and learn to accept Allu Arjun as Pushpa. But both Arjun and Yash promised one thing.

The first part was just the trailer for what was in store…

Fahadh Faasil and Sanjay Dutt in Pushpa 2 and KGF 2.

The Unravelling 

*Spoilers for Pushpa 2* – Read at your own discretion 

When things ended in Pushpa: The Rise, we knew who the main players were. Pushpa was set to go against a hot-headed and maniacal police officer Shekawat whose ego was rubbed on the wrong side. We wanted to see how the street-smart Pushpa was going to continue his smuggling activities with a cop like Shekawat breathing down his neck. 

Similarly, when things ended in KGF 1, we knew who the main players were. Rocky Bhai was set to go against an egotistical antagonist who was returning from exile to recapture his throne. We wanted to see how the seemingly invincible Rocky Bhai was going to continue his gold mining activities with the towering threat of Adheera. 

Yash in KGF 2.

Interestingly enough, both movies pit a massive political machinery against its protagonist, and of course, all is well that ends well. But the sequel also unravels the ambition of both films that, unfortunately, also lays bare the problems. 

The major difference between Pushpa and Rocky Bhai in the second instalment of their respective franchises is that the former continues to be vulnerable as opposed to the latter. However, Prashanth ensures that the elevations never die down, and there is no fluff that takes away from the nonchalance of Rocky. In contrast, Sukumar gets caught between keeping Pushpa a grounded superstar and elevating him to a demi-god. 

It clearly worked more in favour of Prashanth and Yash because they were, more or less, working on an empty canvas with just the burden of the first KGF. However, Pushpa 2: The Rule had to satisfy multiple facets of the superstar at the centre of it all. Take, for instance, the much-hyped Jaathra sequence. That one stretch of elevation has more acting per square foot than entire KGF 2. But Pushpa 2 is burdened by its moments of magic being bookended by long stretches of nothingness. KGF 2 feels more cohesive as a film simply because Rocky Bhai is an unwavering character that is brought together by one big moment after another.

Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2’s Jaathara sequence.

But again, did Pushpa 2 need the KGF 2 treatment where the focus is never off the central conceit between the primary protagonist and the antagonist? It did, and it didn’t. Mainly because Pushpa is a fascinating character whose strength remained in his rootedness. Rocky Bhai is a fantastic character whose strength remained in his OTT-ness. Where Pushpa 2 really falters is in trying to make Pushparaj as invincible as Rocky Bhai.

The emotional core of Pushpa is on a much higher elevated plane, and Allu Arjun ensures that every beat is effective. Pushpa breaking down in front of the women of his family after gaining what he needed most is something Rocky Bhai would never do. And there is never a moment where one feels Allu Arjun didn’t give it his all for Pushpa. What really holds Pushpa 2 together despite the unnecessary detours that add very little to the narrative, is the power-packed performance of the National Award-winning actor. He undergoes a gamut of emotions in the sequel, and he delivers quite a showy performance where we know what exactly Pushpa is going through. Some might argue that this is too showy a performance, but that is the character. He is someone who wears his heart on his flamboyant sleeves, and Allu Arjun delivers a masterclass of a performance that shows why quintessential masala cinema needs a certain kind of acting, and very very few can deliver it with such efficiency. 

But the movie gets undone by its ambition. And that is what set the KGF franchise apart. It was built on the sense of ambition, and that is why when the guns got bigger, the violence got fiercer, and the blood got redder, we never flinched. We watch Pushpa, and there is a part of us that believes he is one of us. We watch Rocky Bhai, and there is a part of us that believes he is someone we should only read about. And Prashanth never stops adding more layers to this mythical attribute of Rocky. In Pushpa 2: The Rule, after a point, it feels like a case of excess, because at the core of it all, Pushpa is not a demi-god or a messiah. He is a simple person. A person with an ego. A person with so much burden that his shoulder is lopsided. Making him mythical doesn’t work because Pushpa is a person, but Rocky Bhai is an idea, and as they often say… ideas are bulletproof.