The incessant buzz of comparisons with the original is an instant difficulty that arises when developing remakes, sequels, and all that nonsense. The glaring omission of Abhishek Bachchan, who made Bunty the lovable conman we’ve adored in equal measure to Rani Mukerji’s vivacious Babli, is a flaw in Bunty Aur Babli 2. What are your options for resolving this? Make it more millennial by including Siddhant Chaturvedi and newbie Sharvari, and combining Rani with another adored on-screen couple, Saif Ali Khan. Is the cinematic heist, however, a success? Let’s have a look.
We’re introduced to Gen Z Bunty Aur Babli (Siddhant and Sharvari), who utilize the famed con-(Saif duo’s and Rani) brand moniker to pull off heists against the corrupt, years after the original. The new Bunty and Babli are struggling engineers who feel themselves to be the Robin Hood of the disadvantaged, which is the distinction between the two duos. As a result, their schemes include cleaning up the Ganga while duping the mayor of the village out of his hard-earned money and collecting merely 10%.
The chase then becomes a cat and mouse game between two groups of evil people as they try to outsmart each other in the most bizarre ways possible, with Jatayu hot on their tails. In comparison to Bunty Aur Babli’s in-depth cons, the sequel doesn’t devote enough time to establishing Kunal and Sonia’s separate schemes. As a result, we don’t have an emotional tie to the new weaponry because we’re expected to be familiar with their gameplay. Rakesh and Vimmi’s’monochromatic’ domestic Fursatganj life, on the other hand, received far too much attention, for their time to shine comes when they morph into Bunty and Babli.
My practical mind couldn’t understand how a paunch-bearing Rakesh can match Kunal’s pace during a chase sequence and lose all those pounds like it’s nothing.
Bunty Aur Babli 2’s facile, weak, and achingly safe script is a colossal failure. The plot is scattered between four scams in less than two hours and 30 minutes, and none of them have the rebellious spark that, say, the OGs had while trying to sell the Taj Mahal. P.S.
The sequence in Abu Dhabi was a bit of a lifesaver! There are nearly too many plot points, but nothing really advances forward. Furthermore, Bunty Aur Babli 2’s anti-climactic climax was a significant letdown, as we were promised an epic battle between the two duos to the very end, only to have it abruptly end with roll credits. The clever lines and pointed criticism on social concerns, on the other hand, are a positive in the writing. Sharp, creative writing may be found in lines like “Padh likh liya hota, toh neta thodi banti” and the amusing description of how Twitter works.
Bunty Aur Babli 2 may have been an amazing commercial excursion if they could have capitalized on that same freshness in the overall plot of an overused genre.
Nonetheless, Bunty Aur Babli 2 gets it right by trusting its incredible ensemble, which plays off of one another’s adaptability. The women, on the other hand, sparkle brightly and practically steal the stage from the funky males. Sharvari makes a strong film debut as the intriguing Sonia, who stands up to the competition and has a dazzling screen presence.
Rani’s over-the-top, fiery comeback as Babli, on the other hand, is nothing short of magnificent and something we’ve been missing out on seeing on the big screen. A performer as naturally skilled as Mukerji could only have pulled off one sequence in which she goes off on the other three. Her Sabyasachi OTT outfits, which I and virtually everyone wouldn’t wear, gave Rani a sparkling oomph, almost like Govinda. She manages to pull it off, and she does so with passion. Also, in the end, credits, Rani looked like a million bucks in all that glitter as the foursome danced to Tattoo Waliye!
That isn’t to say Saif and Siddhanth didn’t hold their own, because they certainly did. While Khan has the appearance of a middle-aged ex-con, his mismatched accent is readily distracting. Saif struts and performs like a genuine blood star when we see him in his elegant Race incarnation, dressed in sharp suits. Siddhanth, on the other hand, appears to have a lot of fun with his many disguises, and several of his sequences appear to have been improvised. If there’s one actor who can step in for Amitabh Bachchan and deliver a memorable performance, it’s Pankaj, who brings the desi chuckles with him.
P.S. Keep an eye out for the kids, particularly Rakesh and Vimmi’s cheeky son, Pappu Trivedi, and his crush, who have excellent dance talents.
Except for one love montage music video of Love Ju and a trademark bikini scene introducing Sharvari, there isn’t enough time spent on Siddhant and Sharvari’s story in Bunty Aur Babli 2 to cheer for their chemistry, though it is a tantalizing one. While nothing compares to AB Jr. and Rani’s mystical chemistry, the Hum Tum duo nevertheless manages to salvage a bad storyline and present a lovely, appetizing coupling.
When it comes to the soundtrack for Bunty Aur Babli 2, the sequel tracks don’t hold a candle to the originals like Kajra Re and Nach Baliye, and instead, detract from the film’s fast pace. Shankar, Ehsaan, and Loy’s brilliance are underutilized this time around, but the nods to the original are many and, unexpectedly, very appreciated. When it comes to Gavemic U. Ary’s intricate cinematography, it’s the foursome’s holy chase sequence where we see some clean shot tricks up his sleeves, while Aarif Sheikh’s bad editing appears misplaced at best.
Bunty Aur Babli 2 is a cinematic robbery that we didn’t sign up for, but the scene-stealing cast draws you in and successfully defrauds you of your hard-earned cash for a one-time movie ticket and snacks.
