Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
There’s a scene in Gatta Kusthi 2 where wrestler Keerthi (Aishwarya Lekshmi) accuses her husband Veera (Vishnu Vishal) of only pretending to be a supportive homemaker while remaining an egoistic man who can’t handle having a more successful wife. Even though he is only misunderstood, ironically, some of that criticism applies to the film itself.
Also Read: ‘Gatta Kusthi’1 Review: Aishwarya Lekshmi Deserved Hero’s Finish
Gatta Kusthi 2 wants to be a progressive feminist tale about husbands taking charge at home so their wives can pursue their careers, yet within the opening minutes, Veera goes from happily cooking meals to pinching a random unknown woman’s waist in public just so he can cut ahead in a queue for water. What the hell? It’s 2026, and South Indian filmmakers still can’t seem to let go of the tired waist-pinching-as-comedy harassment trope. Anyway…
Written and directed by Chella Ayyavu, the action-comedy film is set a few years after the events of the first Gatta Kusthi film and follows Veera, now a busy house-husband, while his wife Keerthi has a government job and continues to grow in her wrestling career. Veera cooks delicious meals throughout the day and runs the house, which includes looking after Mathi (Zara Zyanna), their mischievous little daughter.
Their family is considerably happy, but trouble begins when Keerthi and Veera clash over how to raise Mathi. While Veera coddles his daughter, Keerthi wants her to be more disciplined. Adding to their problems, an envious coach (Tarak Ponnappa) begins deviously driving a wedge between the couple through underhanded tactics. All because Keerthi thanks her husband instead of her coach while accepting an award. Okay, fine, there are other reasons too, but the whole thing still feels a little contrived. I mean, deliberately sabotaging your own star pupil because she didn’t thank you enough? Come on.
The biggest problem with the first ‘Gatta Kusthi’ was that despite projecting itself as a film about strong, powerful women, Aishwarya Lekshmi was often pushed to the sidelines as wrestler Keerthi. At least the sequel is more honest about who the real star is: Vishnu Vishal’s Veera, the house-husband behind his star wrestler wife, much to the annoyance of all the neighborhood uncles worried about him getting a little too pally with their wives.
Much of this glamorization of Veera’s domestic duties was annoying, especially since the film often frames it less as a man simply doing his share at home and more as the ‘hero’ having a jolly good time with other women while his wife is away at work. Although in one of the film’s funnier little subplots, one uncle secretly records Veera cooking and doing household chores, hoping to embarrass him on social media. Instead, Veera becomes a viral sensation.
The best parts of Gatta Gusthi 2 are when Veera is goofing around with his daughter Mathi or pampering her with his home-cooked meals. Zara Zyanna is adorable as Mathi, a feisty girl with little interest in academics or sports. Unlike her ambitious mom, Mathi would rather dance to Tamil hit songs and slack off as much as she can. It’s hilariously cute when Keerthi tries to put Mathi on a strict regimen and turn her into a promising wrestler.
Actor Mokksha plays Mathi’s gorgeous new teacher Meenu, whose long, flowing hair and sleeveless blouses make her exactly the kind of woman Veera once dreamed of marrying. Remember, much of the first film revolved around Veera’s obsession with marrying a woman with long hair, to the point that Keerthi’s parents made her wear a wig to fool him into agreeing to their arranged match. Unsurprisingly, Meenu is brought in as the clichéd “other woman” trope, mostly to stir up jealousy and make Keerthi feel insecure.
In the end, I was disappointed by how watered down Aishwarya Lekshmi’s Keerthi feels in the sequel. It’s also painfully evident that the character has been written by a man, because Keerthi is essentially portrayed like the stereotypical hot-headed, workaholic dad who’s too busy with his career to understand his kid or emotionally connect with his spouse. She frequently seems to lack empathy, and simply swapping the gender roles doesn’t automatically make that progressive. Gatta Kusthi 2 could’ve just as easily been about a male wrestler with a gorgeous, supportive wife doing everything for him, and surprisingly little about the script would’ve needed to change.
Overall, it’s a colorful, dynamic masala film, so I wouldn’t be surprised if many viewers enjoy it more than the first one. Just not me.
Watch Gatta Kusthi 2 on Netflix.
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