Ms. Marvel Episode 2 deepens the lore around Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and the cosmic powers she discovered in the climax of Episode 1. In addition to expanding the mystery of how Kamala got her new super powers, Ms. Marvel Episode 2 also expands our understanding of Kamala’s family, culture, and world. However, Marvel Studios may have used some of the deeper cultural references in Ms. Marvel Episode 2 to mask a potentially big twist that is coming our way. However, Marvel fans who are well versed in the Bollywood genre may have zeroed in on the secret!
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WARNING: Ms. Marvel Episode 2 SPOILERS Follow!
In Ms. Marvel Episode 2 Kamala meets hot guy Kamran (Rish Shah) at a high school party she attends. When the party gets busted up by the cops (naturally), Kamala and her friends flee the scene with Kamran, who has his own car.
During the car ride, Kamala and Kamran bond over their Bollywood movie rankings. When Kamala asks if Kamran watches Bollywood, his response is “Uh, obviously. But only the greats like Baazigar, other cool stuff like that.”
Kamala re-emphasizes the reference, telling Kamran that it’s “not a surprise you like Baazigar, it’s only SRK’s best work.”
Why Ms. Marvel’s Bollywood Reference May Be A Major Plot Twist
Shah Rukh Khan is known as the “King of Bollywood” and is a mega-star in India and the larger Asiatic region of the world. One of his biggest breakout films was the 1993 movie Baazigar – a change of role that cemented SRK as an acting icon, and began his collaboration with actress Kajol, which became one of India’s most popular onscreen partnerships.
Baazigar was a Bollywood adaptation of the famous 1950s crime novel A Kiss Before Dying – which has been made into a famous 1951 film noir movie as well as a 1991 cult-film. Baazigar was unique in that featured an anti-hero character as its lead; SRK’s protagonist Ajay Sharma commits grisly murders of a rival family and their friends, all to avenge his own family, who was betrayed and disgraced by this rival family, the Chopras. Ajay uses dual identities and other shady practices to date the Chopra family patriarch’s two daughters (killing one of them), and gets direct payback by stealing the Chopra family’s business, like they stole it from his father.
Baazigar being one of Kamran’s favorite Bollywood movies (and the one he name-drops) may not be a coincidence – given the long list of famous Bollywood productions that there have been. The references seems to be a distinct foreshadow that Kamran is on a mission of restitution and/or revenge – and he’s willing to seduce and use the Khan family in order to do it.
In the comics, Kamran is a “Nuhuman” created when the Inhuman Terrigen Mists spread across Earth. In the 2015 Ms. Marvel series, Kamran similarly bonded with Kamala and learned of her secret identity as Ms. Marvel – before betraying her to the villain Lineage. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe always takes its own path through Marvel character mythos, it seems clear that the Baazigar reference is a big sign that Kamran is similarly up to something shady – likely connecting to Kamala’s mysterious and dark family history.
With Ms. Marvel Episode 2 ending with the reveal of Kamran’s “mother,” the turning point may arrive quicker than we think!
Ms. Marvel is streaming on Disney+.
