Written by: Kalpajyoti Bhuyan
The most self-reflexive moment in Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati 2 arrives when Prasanta Saikia, popularly known as Moina (Pranjal Saikia), now a grandfather, surveys the crowd gathered on his porch to witness the arrival of his grandson from America and remarks that the people must have “too much time” to spend it watching an American grandson return home. That’s quite some irony for a film to offer its near-full-house audience, so I’ll assume that it is just being honest.
The disappointment with Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati 2, however, is actually shaped by the talents behind the project. The association of Bhaskar Hazarika (the man behind Kothanodi and Aamis) as the film’s writer raised expectations, but somehow it failed to live up to them. Now, 2026 will be best remembered as the year that slapped a facepalm onto two greatly adored Assamese classics of yesteryear—Joubone Amoni Kore (not that it was a great film, but it was a massive hit back then) and Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati.
While Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati greatly relied on the presence of Mridula Baruah’s innocence and charm, the sequel has removed the need for any female character in the household—all the women are either dead or have left home. It’s only the patriarchs now. For the record, Moina is now a koka (grandfather) and a painter, in charge of his grandson Ankur (Utpal Das), who is struggling with addiction. Pallab (Jatin Bora), his son, is a cop in Miami whose wife has left him for someone else. Birinchi (Tapan Das) looks after Koka’s businesses and takes care of the household. The only significant female character in the film is Preety KKongana’s Tuhin, and Tuhin has more to do in the plot here than Preety KKongana did in her last big release.
The return of the beloved son sits at the heart of Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati 2 as many themes and elements from the first film are revisited. Some are also cleverly reversed. For example, in the first film, it was Moina who teased the girls bathing in the river before the song Kolir Krishno Buli. Here, the gaze is reversed—it is the girls who tease a bare-chested Ankur as the same song follows. There was also a brief scene of a traditional Bihu dance under a tree in the first film. Here, the Bihu dance takes place on a stage. It seems that the film has updated itself, much like a character says: “You have to update yourself with time if your relevance is to be proved.”
There’s also a fair bit of compare-and-contrast between America and India, as a few characters, who I assume are not yet ready to come to terms with the concept called Vishwaguru, randomly start playing the game. Starting from kumol saul versus pizza, getting a medical report in two hours versus getting a lead in an investigation, a little more of that and a meme would have come screaming out of the film (America kya kehta tha? Kya ho tum?). In one particular scene, Ankur tries, like all Americans, to affirm his stand by saying that he’s got rights. But Koka humbles him by saying, “That is why you are in such a situation now.” And since we can’t take on Trump in real life, let’s roast America in films.
But above all, I loved the subtle commentary on why you should never trust an iPhone’s battery life in an emergency, and how Sailadhar Saikia, in one instance, became Sailadhar Baruah in the subtitles. Maybe the subtitle writers were intentionally paying homage to the ace producer. Moreover, it’s a sad fact that actor Pranjal Saikia has been playing essentially the same character for the last few years—the same uptight grandfather/father figure with a moral high ground. At this rate, he will surely become eligible for a return in Avengers: Doomsday.
The story by Bhaskar Hazarika and his team settles in only after an hour into the film, when a threat surrounds Ankur and Koka. This leads to a better second half as the investigation into a missing person comes into the equation. The action sequences are well shot and well edited. To director Biswajeet Bora’s credit, he is no stranger to such narratives and action sequences, so he manages to pull them off once again. There is also a good use of symbolism to represent Pallab’s train of memories as a train passes by. Both scenes play out together like an extended cross-dissolve.
Further, Brikudar, the elephant, saves the day and, to a great extent, the film itself. Although Brikudar had broken free from his chains and run away from home a few years earlier, he appears one night to protect Ankur. This is a beautiful scene in the film and has a soft spiritual glow to it. But the purpose of the scene is also to foreshadow his eventual return later in the film. And while this foreshadowing helps keep his grand return logical, it also makes that return predictable.
Apart from this, Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati 2 fails to create any visual nostalgia in the spirit of the first film. Even the title design on the posters doesn’t carry the recall value of the original. Moreover, the film takes the ultimate shortcut when the villain himself explains his methods and misdeeds through a loud monologue. And once again, Adil Hussain, as a cop, sides with the wrong things done for the right reasons (remember Sikaar?). As Ankur’s father (Jatin Bora) gets significant priority in the story, the film is no longer Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati but Koka, Deuta, Nati Aru Hati.
The film also gives actor Jatin Bora an opportunity to play every generation within the world of a single story. Having already played both the grandfather and the grandson in the mobile theatre production Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati by Theatre Surjya during 2017–2018, the theatrically released film now allows him to settle comfortably into the role of the father. Also worth noting, in one scene, Prasanta Saikia is seen reading the novel Asimat Jar Heral Seema. This can be read as an unintentional nod to writer Bhaskar Hazarika’s upcoming assignment—a big-screen adaptation of the popular novel.
Produced by Pride East Entertainments Pvt. Ltd., Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati 2 was released on July 3, 2026, across 74 screens in Assam and Shillong. After making some noise during its opening weekend, the film’s hype died down significantly in the following week.