Cast: Ajay Devgn, Rakul Preet Singh, R. Madhavan, Gautami Kapoor, Ishita Dutta, Meezaan Jafri and Javed Jafferi Directed by: Anshul Sharm...
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Rakul Preet Singh, R. Madhavan, Gautami Kapoor, Ishita Dutta, Meezaan Jafri and Javed Jafferi
Directed by: Anshul Sharma
Rating: 3.5/5
I’d like to start off by saying
that De De Pyaar De (2019) was amusing to the
slightest. Maybe it’s something to do with the way the film was made, the
weird, off-putting artistic (if you can even label it so) choices, or the overall
humor of it, which fails miserably for me, and me liking this (De De
Pyaar De 2) is surprising since it basically follows the same structure, has
the same brand of humor (the Luv Ranjan humor that gets too old too fast), the
same (slightly nuanced though) weird artistic choices, and the overall
awkwardness of the primary cast (intentional or not I don’t know). The film
baffles me slightly due to this alone. What did this film do differently that
amused me? That too to such a degree that I was chuckling and laughing
throughout the film. What did it do differently? Was it the fact that Luv
Ranjan’s involvement wasn’t as overt in this? Or the fact that the previous one
didn’t have R. Madhavan? Either of the two, surely.
De De Pyaar De 2 is
essentially the same film with a different setting; it’s definitely stupider on
many levels, totally owning the stupidity of it. The film is definitely a way
better film; it handles its themes better, and the performances are evidently
way better than what we got in the first one. It’s also kind of surprising how,
in both films, the secondary characters are the highlights in terms of
everything: performance, character writing, and dialogue. The sudden breaking
of the fourth wall added a sense of self-awareness to the film, which, in my
opinion, the first one lacked. The self-awareness, along with (more or less)
better jokes, and the editing, make this, in every way possible, a better
watch. Editing makes or breaks a film. The first one wasn’t edited properly,
and thus, felt like a task to get through (at least, for me), unlike this one,
which has better editing.
R. Madhavan, honestly, saved
this film — if not for him, this wouldn’t be half as funny as it was. He keeps
the momentum going, even when every other actor fails to do so, with his
consistently funny deliveries and facial expressions. He is convincing as his
character, and there’s a lot of potential in his character. One often comes
across people who label themselves “progressive, educated, and modern”, but
upon further inspection, it is clearly evident that they’re not modern in the
slightest — and Madhavan understood this. He made his character believable,
transforming his character into, essentially, a real person (of course, a
hyperbole), whilst the rest of the cast plays a caricature of their respective
characters. Madhavan’s character was also largely a caricature, but it feels
believable.
Rakul Preet Singh's performance
felt cocky unnecessarily. The way she delivered her dialogue felt very
unnatural, to say the least. Her character felt extremely mechanical and
overwhelming — in the sense that she overdid every scene she was in.
Ajay Devgan was his usual self —
the man never changes his character until it is a specific demand. He felt very
laid back, and his overall depressive (coked-out of his mind) look helped his
performance. Whenever he said anything, which was very rare, his comic timing
wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t applaudable either.
Meezaan Jafri was a fresh new
addition to the cast, and he played his part very well. His comic timing was
great, and the scenes that required physicality were also done well. His
overall exuberant, pompous, youthful presence did help the film greatly, and
his character ended up being one of the most amusing ones to watch on screen.
Javed Jaffrey was as good as he
was in the first one. His performance was hilarious and made the film better.
Gautami Kapoor was also good in her respective role, and her pairing with
Madhavan felt believable.
The betterment of the script
evidently made this better and more enjoyable than the first one, along with
the direction by Anshul Sharma, all three of which make this a fun film — one
which you will laugh with constantly — to watch this weekend
at the theatres.
Ashish confronts the ultimate
challenge of his age-gap romance as he visits Ayesha’s family home.
By Ravit Mishra
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