I was just nine-years-old when Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji conned my heart away in Bunty Aur Babli, so when a one-and-a-half decade later it was announced that the film was getting a sequel, I was excited as well as a little cynical about whether it would do justice to the original. But Rani, Saif Ali Khan, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Sharvari’s Bunty Aur Babli 2 doesn’t disappoint. The sequel is helmed by debutante director Varun V Sharma who has also given the screenplay and dialogues to the film and is backed by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films who has also written the story.
The sequel’s story follows after the end of the original and sees Saif and Rani’s Bunty and Babli living their domestic lives when two new con persons use their MO and name to dupe people bringing the original Bunty and Babli into focus again. What follows is a delightful and funny journey of one-upping each other and the adventure that ensues. Before I get into my thoughts on the film, check out the trailer here:
Here’s what I like about the film:
1. The Cast And Their Performances, Especially That Of Rani
Rani is a bonafide superstar, there’s no doubting that, but in this film, which already had some big and promising names, she shines the brightest and is the star of the film. Her entry scene does justice to her stature. Her comic timing and over-the-top mannerisms are impeccable and are organically funny. There is a scene in the second half where all the four main leads are there, but it’s she who owns the whole scene there.
While Rani also had the advantage of having that relatability with the audience of being Babli in the original, Saif takes a little time, but he grows on you. And their chemistry is on the next level and will remind you of all the great work they have done together and why they were so successful. Siddhant also shines in his first lead role and delivers on what he is asked to do while Sharvari shows a lot of promise.
But it’s the supporting cast that adds the spice to the journey. Pankaj Tripathi as the funny and cunning cop is, as always, on the top of his game, but this role is something on the lines that we have already seen him do before. His chemistry with Rani and Saif’s son Pappu (Agrim Mittal) is the highlight of the film. It’s also great to see veterans like Asrani, Prem Chopra, and Bijendra Kala bring their expertise on the floor.
2. Pure Unadulterated Comedy
Nowadays, we are used to comedy being flamboyant, filled with forced gags and uncalled for laughter, but here it is nothing like that. Saif and Rani’s characters are shown over-the-top and they do that convincingly so the comedy from their end too seems credible. As for others, the humour seems organic and nothing is just put there for the sake of it. It’s either the circumstance or the delivery of the scene that makes you laugh. The best comic scene of the film takes place when Pankaj Tripathi’s Jatayu Singh goes to Bunty and Babli’s house to meet Pappu. That scene will make you laugh hysterically with the exchange between the characters.
3. The Climax Will Leave You Satisfied
Well without giving anything away, I’ll just say that the climax could have made or destroyed the film and, in this case, it did the former. You will walk out of the theatres smiling and marveling at the characters with a sense of content in your heart. It’s logical, satisfactory, and plausible but at the same time, you might not see it coming.
I would like to make a special mention for the child actor Agrim Mittal, who despite having limited screen time, just spreads magic every time he appears on screen, especially in his scenes with Pankaj. He is actually the perfect son that you could imagine Bunty and Babli to have.
Things that could have been better:
1. Average Music
We all remember the 2005 Bunty Aur Babli for its amazing soundtrack with songs like Chup Chup Ke, Bunty Aur Babli title track, Nach Baliye, and the best of all, Kajra Re, which we still groove and listen to. But the music in the sequel is just average and not something that might stay with you for long. Luv Ju is a good and peppy track but on the whole, the soundtrack isn’t that memorable as the original.
2. Poor Backstories
What made Bunty and Babli relatable in the original was the connect that the audience got to build with them because they knew where were they coming from, what made them enter into conning and see that development. Here, we are not given that background visually for Siddhant and Sharvari’s characters. We straightaway enter into their journey of duping, so that connect kind of stays missing. Also, we do not get to see how these new Bunty and Babli plan and work on their schemes, we just see their implementation. Seeing their planning and working process is what made the original a bit more interesting.
3. I Wanted More From Sharvari
Sharvari is a promising actress and she shows that potential in the film, but she should have gotten to do more. She has her shining moments in both halves, but they are inconsistent. She starts the first half on a high and does really well in all the getups she has to don, but it goes down eventually. In the second half, she shines again in the Abu Dhabi portion but then again slips away. Sharvari delivers perfectly on what she is given but the actress had the potential to be explored and pushed more.
In all, Bunty Aur Babli 2 offers a pure light-hearted comedy in Bollywood after a long time and may remind you of the comedies from the early 2000s. It will keep you smiling throughout the run of the film and feeling the emotions of the characters as and when they feel it. You will enjoy the picturesque locations and the scale of the film and it deserves to be seen on the big screen as it will con your heart away.
My verdict: 4 out of 5