Bunty Aur Babli 2 Review: Watch the film with a pill, if you must!
Like many other sequels, Bunty Aur Babli 2 also fails at being close to anything that its prequel was. Despite having a great lineup of actors including Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Sharvari Wagh and Pankaj Tripathi, the film will leave you disappointed and sleepy, once you step out of the theatre.
FollowWhen the trailer of Bunty Aur Babli 2 was released, it looked entertaining, if not promising enough. There were high hopes with the film that, similar to its prequel, the 2.0 version of this film will hit off with the audiences instantly. However, an empty theatre had a different story to tell.
Starring actors Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh in the lead roles, Bunty Aur Babli 2 is a sequel to the film that was released in 2005, featuring Rani Mukherjee and Abhishek Bachchan, and Amitabh Bachchan as ‘Dashrath Singh’ - the cop who nabs the couple but later releases them after a change of heart. The new version of the film is directed by debutant Varun V Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner.
Bunty Aur Babli 2 is a story of two young engineering graduates – Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh, who turn into cons to support their dreams and ambitions. They con people while using the identity of the infamous couple ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ who was never nabbed by the cops.
The film opens with a bunch of old men ogling at bikini-clad women near a swimming pool. Sidhant Chaturvedi is a small-time event manager who organises a pool party for these men. Knowing that their weakness lies in women, Siddhanth and Sharvari do their first con by selling an expensive trip to the men to a nation that does not exist. With this, their journey to conducting various cons begins.
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While Siddhanth Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh are planning their second plot, the original Bunty and Babli are shown living a normal middle-class life and a couple that have left their past behind. However, things take a turn in their lives when the engineering graduates use their (Saif and Rani's) identity for it and the media runs stories of the ‘return’ of Bunty and Babli.
The chaos begins when Pankaj Tripathi enters the film as police inspector ‘Jatayu Singh’ to arrest ‘Rakesh’ and ‘Vimmi’ played by Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. The former con couple is forced to spend a day inside the jail; meanwhile, another con takes place which proves that Rakesh and Vimmi had no involvement in it. And that somebody else was using their identity. While 'Jatayu Singh' releases the original con couple, he returns by the night to seek their help in nabbing ‘Kunal’ (Siddhanth Chaturvedi) and ‘Sonia’ (Sharvari Wagh). Rakesh and Vimmi decide upon helping Jatayu Singh but only to save the ‘brand’ (of Bunty and Babli con couple) that they had created.
Bunty Aur Babli 2 is a movie that is highly predictable. It has more cons than pros, quite literally. Neither the film’s music nor the acting saves the film from drowning. In fact, Pankaj Tripathi, whom we expected to save the sinking ship, has drowned with the film as well. The role of Pankaj Tripathi is shown in bits and pieces and is rather flat. Unlike how Amitabh Bachchan had pulled off his role as a cop in the original film, Pankaj Tripathi’s presence barely makes a difference.
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What also did not click was the pairing of Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan. The two had done a fantastic job in the film ‘Hum Tum’. It was highly anticipated that the two would nail it this time too. However, even they failed at the job of entertaining the public, as Abhishek Bachchan's presence was missed on screen.
Moving further, the film’s plot is quite similar to another Yash Raj Films’ con movie – Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl. If you remember the film, you would know how Anushka Sharma was used by three women to con Ranveer Singh, the man who has fooled numerous women for their money. Well, Bunty Aur Babli 2, also revolves around something similar.
If there is anything that seemed to have worked a bit, is the Jodi of Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh. The duo looks seamlessly hot together on screen. Apart from this, watching Siddhant as ‘Kunal’ after his role as ‘MC Sher’ has definitely left us surprised. The young actor is a powerhouse of talent and has got us wanting to see more of him in different characters.
About the film’s rating, we would like to give it 2.5 stars out of five – two stars for the film, and the extra half star for Siddhant Chaturvedi. If you plan to watch this film, we recommend that you carry a headache pill along. You should watch it only if you like sleeping in the middle of the movies because even popcorns would not save you from wasting your time! While you may survive the first half of the film, the scenes after the interval are quite a drag.
