Watching the Dandupalya sequel, officially titled 2 and directed by Srinivas Raju, one is left wondering what the point of the film is.
The film is framed as a fictionalised, alternate history of the Dandupalya gang, which became notorious for its series of gruesome crimes. The second of a three-part narrative, this film tells the ‘real story’ behind the D-gang – as a group of innocents who unwittingly get caught up in a plot by the police.
2, however, is fundamentally a filler film – setting the stage for an ‘explosive’ finish in the final part of the trilogy. This means that there’s not even the meagre satisfaction of a final resolution to the film.
As for the story itself – there’s nothing remotely new or interesting to be had from it. The first half centres around the D-gang’s time in prison after their conviction. This largely consists of them getting manhandled by cops, and listening to mountains of abuse directed towards them. In Pooja Gandhi’s case, it means having the camera regularly focus on her breasts, and a fellow inmate periodically trying to paw her.
There’s also a journalist who’s trying to prove that the gang may not be guilty of everything they’ve been accused of, though most of her investigation seems to involve dramatically fiddling with her spectacles.
Just after the interval, the D-gang is convinced by the journalist to tell her their real story. And the story could not be more predictable and cliched. It's the usual tale of poverty and exploitation that can be seen from miles away.
Pretty much everything in the film is over the top. From camera angles that give you motion-sickness to the loud and obnoxious soundtrack to the melodramatic acting.
And following in the line of the first film, there’s also a lot of gratuitous violence, as the cops spend most of the second half torturing the hapless nobodies into doing whatever they tell them.
There are some films which are so bad, they end up being entertaining. 2, unfortunately does not live up even to this expectation because it's just too unpleasant and loud to tolerate.
Unless you are a hardcore fan of the first Dandupalya film, it’s probably easier to give this one a miss.