Locations in Europe: Budapest, Hungary
Storyline
Star(s): John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Genelia D’Souza, Adil Hussain
Songs/Dance/Action: Located in Budapest, Hungary
Indian/ International Crew:Indian and International
Language: Hindi
Director/Producer: Abhinav Deo (Director); John Abraham (producer)
Line Producer/Executive Producer/Associate Producer: Gyorgy Czutor (supervising Producer and production Coordinator)
Film Location Analysis
By Ranjani Mazumdar
Force 2 begins with a dramatic sequence in Shanghai that shows the operation of a network of people who are mobile across the territory of Shanghai. Shanghai's architectural form is presented as a spatial context within which brutal killings occur. We then move to the RAW headquarters in New Delhi, where the issue of Indian agents losing their cover because of a leak is being discussed by officials. One of them asks for Yashvardhan, which takes us to Mumbai’s mill district, where Yash is introduced as an action hero. When he is at home, a book arrives from his friend Harish, stoking his curiosity as news of his friend’s death is covered by television. Yash then arrives in Budapest with Kamaljeet. From here on, a mapping of Budapest’s iconic and not-so-iconic landscape is central to the way the drama and action unfold in the film.
After being introduced to the façade of the Budapest airport, we see Yash and KK in a car driving past the Liberty Bridge, its green colour lending a dramatic quality as it stretches across the Danube River. The Liberty Bridge connects the Buda side to the Pest side and is one of the eight bridges built across the Danube. It is 1086 feet long and 65 feet wide, with bronze statues of a bird atop the four masts of the bridge. This is a bridge with regular activity that rests on two pillars. The bridge, with its green colour, its statues, and its Parisian-like pillars, is a major tourist attraction for the views it offers. Force 2 showcases the bridge from different angles several times in the narrative. Buda and Pest, the two sides of the country’s capital city, are known for their distinct topographical, architectural, and cultural forms.
Yash and KK arrive at what is supposed to be a safe house, but Yash realises it is a trap and runs out with KK, minutes before the house explodes. This is followed by two visual inserts: a long, high-angle view of Budapest with the Danube running through the middle and then a frontal tilt of a building titled Gellert, a popular Art Nouveau hotel on the river. The villain is not revealed to the spectator yet; we only see fragmentary shots of his eyes or the back of his head playing a mouth organ. This sound becomes associated with him whenever he makes an appearance in the film.
On KK's request, the ambassador makes sure a TV news channel announces the deaths of both agents to help them with the investigation. While KK is looking for possible suspects through her computer database, the narrative moves to show us the Liberty Bridge again by night, and Yash can be seen standing outside the Indian Embassy waiting for the office staff to come out. It is late evening, and when the staff comes out, he follows them to a bar and starts chatting with them. Early the next morning, he is back in the hotel and tells KK that he suspects Shiv Sharma, who had worked as an interpreter for the Embassy. She does not believe him, but they plant a decoy message for the ambassador, and we see the villain’s back as he hacks into the system to access the message. This leads the investigating team to the glass-façade entrance of Bálna, a commercial centre for entertainment and leisure located in central Budapest, which opened in 2013. The façade is used as the entry, and after that, the interior is an art gallery managed by an entire CCTV network. While KK arrests a suspect inside the art gallery and looks through CCTV footage, Yash races out on his bike to Shiv Sharma’s house. He passes the Liberty Bridge, the Budapest University of Technology, and the Szechenyi Chain Bridge to finally arrive at Shiv’s home. The Chain Bridge was the first to be built across the Danube to connect Buda with Pest, and the University of Technology is one of the most well-known centres for higher education in Hungary, now located close to the Gellert hotel overlooking the river. During this race to the house, we see the villain as Shiv Sharma revealed first on a tram and then in the CCTV footage KK is looking through.
Shiv manages to hoodwink Yash initially. KK arrives and walks into the apartment when she sees someone through the window. Meanwhile Yash has rushed out before KK’s arrival but returns to see her unconscious on the floor. He soon realizes that Shiv has fled to the roof. This leads to an extended and thrilling rooftop chase on foot, establishing the unique architectural style of the buildings and providing several extended views of the city, ultimately leading to Shiv’s arrest, interrogation, and decision to deport him to India. We are now outdoors again, driving to the airport. On route, two bikers start to chase them. The driver is killed, and KK takes over the wheel. The chase now incorporates a range of different kinds of spaces, some along the road next to the Danube and others like a neighbourhood with its trees and parks. This finally changes when we enter the space of Csepel Muvek, one of Budapest's largest machine factories (https://www.behance.net/gallery/41979127/CSEPEL). This is a rundown space that carries a history of industry in its old buildings. Unlike the other moments of action, we enter a non-touristic space here where you hardly see people. It is possible that spaces like these are easier to access for intricate chase sequences. Sites that hold traces of an earlier era of industrial production processes are increasingly becoming available in many cities around the world. These modern ruins that were once the site of bustling activity but are now in shambles have often been turned into studio spaces. This draws our attention to the impulses of film, where out-of-work sites can get repurposed for a layered evocation of invisible and distant pasts. As a result, in the expanded world of blockbuster action cinema, we can occasionally see moments that are not presented as touristic versions of a city but rather appear as chance encounters with geographical sites that remain remote from the world of tourist iconography.
Once this car and bike chase is over, we return to a touristic postcard image of Budapest to transition to an apartment block where Yash and KK take refuge with a handcuffed Shiv. They are again attacked, and an indoor shootout sequence follows. All three are on the road again, making their way to the Millennium Monument, built in neo-classical form in 1896. Also known as "Heroes Square," the night view of the space is dramatic. A tilt-down fade to black takes us to the metro station located below the space where an Indian agent is killed. Another car chase follows, and this time we are taken through a tunnel to finally get to a rooftop helicopter. It is early morning light, and from this high vantage point, the city appears dramatic—a city still asleep. Suddenly, a helicopter shooter aims at Shiv, who collapses. This is only a ruse since he wakes up to call Yash gleefully despite being packed off in a body bag after he is declared dead.
Yash and KK now realise that her watch has a tracker installed by Shiv when she became unconscious in his apartment. Yash asks his friend in Bombay to investigate Shiv Sharma, simultaneously contacting a nightclub dancer named Martinez to access information about Shiv's whereabouts. This takes them from a grandiose nightclub dance and action sequence to Hollókő village, where they find Shiv and chase him on foot. Yash has now heard from his friend in Bombay that Shiv is the name of a dead person. Hollókő is a settlement located about 100 km north-east of Budapest that has been preserved as an example of rural life, consisting of residential buildings, farm buildings, a church, and a medieval castle in ruins. This is a site that developed during the 18th and 19th centuries and was rebuilt in the 20th century after a fire to preserve its traditional character. It is now a UNESCO heritage site that is also known as an ethnographic village. The chase is explicitly mounted as a cartographic set piece intended to highlight the cobblestone street, the texture of the buildings, the alleys, and old staircases.
Shiv manages to escape. While the government agencies continue with their investigation, Shiv meets Martinez on the roof of a building, from where we get a breath-taking view of the city. We now know Martinez is playing both sides. Shiv's real identity is Rudra Pratap Singh, and his plan to avenge his father's death is revealed at this stage. We see him sitting in front of the Hungarian Parliament in thought at night and walking across the Liberty Bridge after a conversation with Martinez on the phone. Budapest at night looks intoxicating, even as Rudra's traumatic story unfolds in a flashback. From here, we lead up to the climax of the film, which takes place in Budapest's Ethnographic Museum, built originally for the Ministry of Justice in 1872. The museum is located opposite the Parliament and has a facade that includes large columns and sculpted statues. It has an expansive main hall with grand staircases, open corridors, and a very high ceiling. There are gold engravings in some parts of the interior. It is here that we see the final dramatic action sequence where Rudra is killed, but Yash ensures that Brijesh Yadav, the Minister, who has come here for an Indo-Hungarian summit, retracts his earlier statement, and declares Karan Pratap Singh a patriot who died for the country. This is the first interior sequence in a major touristic site, all the other action sequences unfold in public spaces or ordinary apartments.
Force 2 uses most of its action-packed moments to highlight the physical and material textures of Budapest's unique landscape. It combines iconic sites with lesser-known sites, but with a clear eye on the marketing of place. This becomes evident from the range of sites used and the access and help provided by the Hungarian Film Commission and other government agencies. The credits of the film include a long list devoted to Budapest professionals and a caption that acknowledges the role of the Hungarian State.
Additional Information and Links
https://www.bollywoodpresents.com/filming-in-budapest-hungary/
Tourism
