Gatta Kusthi 2

Camouflage. It is always interesting to see how women empowerment films play out in Tamil cinema. Quite often, the makers try to mount a ‘male saviour’ film masquerading as a ‘women empowerment’ film. But smarter filmmakers know that the audience might see through this bluff, and they have started packaging it better. One such film was Chella Ayyavu’s Gatta Kusthi (2022), a seemingly entertaining ride about the ill effects of misogyny and the inherent need for women’s empowerment in society. On paper, it was empowering, but compromises were made to make it seem more ‘palatable’. Interestingly, in Gatta Kusthi 2, Chella doesn’t play the camouflage game. He throws caution to the wind, and goes all out to give us a battle of the sexes that tilts the scales clearly in favour of the man, but not without having him point out why women must be empowered. Basically, Chella and Vishnuu have the cake, and this time, they eat it, too.

Gatta Kushti 2 is, first and foremost, a vast improvement over the first film. There, Veera (Vishnu Vishal), a laundry list misogynist, who desires a wife with long hair and short CV, finds, instead, Keerthy (Aishwarya Lekshmi). She is a champion wrestler who not only has short hair and is more educated than him, but also has the gall to lie about both. They get hitched, and eventually, after the wig falls and the illusions fade, find each other in love. That film’s biggest issue was that in trying to do acrobatics around the story—furnishing plot twists and forced changes of heart at every corner—it forgot to convince us why they eventually fell in love. For example, Keerthy, dogmatically against marriage, melts immediately when Veera refuses a dowry. Is that all it takes? Men, take notes.

In a span of two months, we saw Samantha, Preity Mukundhan and Abhirami ace action like no one in Maa Inti Bangaaram and Blast. But Aishwarya Lekshmi did it back in 2022 when she wrestled her way into the hearts of audiences with her role in Gatta Kusthi. Four years later, the team reunites for a sequel that promises to delve deep into the lives of Veera, Keerthi and their daughter, Mathi Malar.