Given that last year’s Kabaddi, directed by Ram Babu Gurung, had pleasantly exceeded my expectations—thanks to a number of strong performances, a picturesque and utterly believable small-community setting, and good whacks of playful humour to tie it all together—the release of its sequel had naturally been something to look forward to. But while the new Kabaddi Kabaddi does retain much of what was good about its predecessor, it perhaps also clings to that brief a little too strongly: the film can frequently feel like an amped-up retread of the older one. It might boast a star-studded extended cast and cameos, more stylish visuals, catchier tunes and a slightly longer running time, but its all in the service of largely repetitive jokes (alongside the occasional distasteful one, but more on that later) as part of a script that often runs around in circles, not quite sure of where its going or what it wants to say. We’re back in the village of Naurikot, Mustang, and back in the company of the remarkably self-important Kaji (Dayahang Rai), who is more than a little surprised that the girl of his dreams, cousin Maiya (Rishma Gurung) is still being standoffish with him, despite him having exerted himself greatly to rescue her from the clutches of a young vengeance-seeking thug from Kathmandu (Nischal Basnet) in the last film. He had thought it a done deal, but try as he might to suit up (shiny shades perched just so on his nose) whenever he goes to see her, she seems intent on rebuffing him each time. And to make matters worse, there’s a new guy from the city sniffing around her now, the flashy Bom (Saugat Malla), who is in town to help his father, a village elder, to run in the upcoming elections.