Rana Naidu 2 review: Rana Daggubati show keeps it kinetic as fists and bullets fly
Rana Naidu is back for a second-go-round, and this season is as kinetic as the first, fists and bullets flying. It also dials down the crassness, which is a good thing. The close ties that keeps the Naidu parivaar together are still intact, though, and that gives this heavy-on-action saga the occasional emo touch, which we saw in the first season.
This franchise, adapted from American crime drama 'Ray Donovan' for India by Karan Anshuman, is shaping up to deliver on what it promises: a family man trying to do his best to keep his embattled flock safe even as he goes full tilt at what he is paid to – fix things for powerful people.
This time around, champion fixer Rana Naidu (Rana Daggubati) is hired by ruthless billionaire (Rajat Kapoor) with an ambitious daughter (Kriti Kharbanda) who has her heart set on acquiring a cricket team, and a son who wants to keep squandering money on flop films. Smart move by the writers, which includes Anshuman and Suparn S Varma, borrowing from what seems to be current hot topics, what with IPL teams-for-sale as well as studios bleeding cash.
Watch Rana Naidu 2 trailer here:
Meanwhile, Rana's father Naga (Venkatesh) is making himself as much as a nuisance as he was in the first season, if not more, as he finds himself in the tentacles of a couple of mobsters (Arjun Rampal, Heeba Shah). Rana's brothers (Sushant Singh, Abhishek Banerjee) have troubles of their own. So does Rana's daughter (Afra Sayed) whose boyfriend has become an overnight rap sensation, who in turn gets entangled with Rampal's rampaging Rauf Bhai's doings. Rana's loyal wife (Surveen Chawla) is conflicted about her husband's loyalty, tipping over into dangerous territory with cop (Dino Morea). Greedy politician (Rajesh Jais) springs Rauf out of jail for his own reasons, and there's your busy plot, spread over eight episodes.
Most of this season is enjoyable, especially as it takes care not to get too cringe over painting Naga Naidu's character as someone who can't keep it in his pants. There were a couple of characters, though, that I found hard to buy: you can see Arjun Rampal having a lot of fun playing this all-black guy, but he really doesn't have the requisite menace; neither does Heeba Shah's mobster. Some of the jokey stuff — Venkatesh and Sushant creeping around to break a safe, for example — doesn't really land, even if the escapade reminded me of a Modesty Blaise I read a long time back.
But almost everything is made up for by Rana Dagubatti, as the long and tall and strong titular character, who stays the last man standing in the face of all the murder and mayhem. We do hope that he doesn't succumb to drab domesticity, leaving him free for another round of this desi guns-and-roses series, which takes its memo of keeping-things-fast-and-furious seriously.
Rana Naidu 2 cast: Rana Daggubati, Venkatesh, Surveen Chawla, Arjun Rampal, Rajat Kapoor, Sushant Singh, Abhishek Banerjee, Rajesh Jais, Heeba Shah, Dino Morea, Afra Sayed
Rana Naidu 2 directors: Karan Anshuman, Suparn S Varma, Abhay Chopra
Rana Naidu 2 rating: 2.5 stars
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