The premise of Pushpa 2 : The Rule is exactly in its title – you see Pushpa ruling against his multiple nemesis while growing in stature, even increasing his hunger for a social, political and financial status, all of which stemming from his fatherless childhood. The latter is true particularly when you witness his rude upper-caste brother ridiculing him and his family for not having a family surname, the one thing that money can’t buy for Pushpa. Therefore, all of the actions of Pushpa seem justified with a character that is essentially an anti-hero, but a saviour for ‘his’ people who often run into issues with Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil). If I have to dig deeper into the writing, then it is rather futile given that the entire structure of Pushpa 2 is designed to be an amalgamation of multiple reels, specifically catered to capture the attention of the ‘reel-watching’ viewers. And so ironically, you do not feel the pinch of the massive runtime of over 200 minutes here because the drama is further deconstructed into specific set-pieces wherein the emotions are simple and palatable with Pushpa at the center of it – you see him flaunt his signature style of his beard, a one-liner here, another one-there, a bunch of slow-mos, a kickass fight sequence, a face-off and a little emotions sprinkled in between. Easy-peasy!

The writing here is allowed a leeway of being shallow because everything else takes a backseat when you have a ‘superstar’ character that absolutely owns the arena with the entertainment. So the focus always remains on Pushpa right from the opening scene that ironically ended on a cliffhanger onto to cut to the protagonist waking up from a triggering trauma of his past, in what felt like a dream sequence. Yet even in that three-act sequence, it is clear that it is Pushpa who would be ruling the screens, with every other character essentially taking a backseat. So his moments with his wife Srivalli (Rashmika Mandanna) or his face-off with Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, is effectively treated on the sidelines, even as Pushpa begins his journey from a messiah for his folks to a demi-god. But are we even complaining? You go Pushpa!

The politics in the drama playing in the backdrop, is used as a trigger of sorts for Pushpa to change gears. The entire landscape of the political setup here is changed by the protagonist, just because the CM of the state refused to take a picture with Pushpa, who had in turn promised his wife for the same. This in a way, also marked the change in the mindset of the character, or more specifically his gaze towards women that may have a funny anecdote to it but tells a deeper story. These instances do not end soon – at a party, a sloshed Pushpa on the verge of abusing Shekhawat stops midway and turns towards the ladies in the room to step away for a minute, until he foul-mouths his nemesis. Sure, the abuses would mostly features relations essayed by females, but atleast this was a start from a smuggler with little to boast of, with respect to his upbringing (sarcasm, but way to go). To further highlight Pushpa’s changed demeanor, you see him donning the avatar of Goddess Kali just so that the almighty blesses him with a girl (instead of a boy), with the reason being that the little girl would grow up to adopt a surname that she would call it her own. This, while ensuing a fight following his relative being harrassed by a bunch of hooligans. The morality of the character was intact, and it was refreshing to witness here.

It can’t be denied that the proceedings are entertaining here – particularly with Pushpa’s face-off with Shekhawat. This is in a way, slightly off-course from the first part because Pushpa 1 had promised a fiery face-off of sorts. Instead, the exchanges although severely intense are light-hearted with Shekhawat often assuming to have an upper-hand for himself before the tables turn, on more than one occasion. And so, the humour stems from the acknowledgement in what is a battle of equals in terms of their personalities – Pushpa is an anti-hero with a high level of morality, Shekhawat is on the side of the law but often seen sleeping with s*x workers. In a way, both balance each other yet don’t shy away from a picky banter (for instance, the scene wherein Pushpa is asked to say ‘sorry’ to Shekhawat). However, I felt kind of hard-done by the arc of Shekhawat in the second hour, something that came to a premature halt. The final act too did feel slightly stretched albeit a terrific action sequence with mythological touches to close the loop. A little setup right at the end ensures that the drama ends on a cliffhanger, while dozens would hope for a ‘rampage’ of sorts in the third part. But, a little trimming on the emotional scenes at the end would not have hurt. Perhaps, even the placement of those scenes kind of lowered the energy after the physics defying rampage. I guess the improvement is for another time, but taking nothing away from the writing that ensures frequent bouts of entertainment throughout the film.