De De Pyaar De 2 review: Wants to be wise but mostly just wanders

De De Pyaar De 2UA Comedy family dramaDir Anshul SharmaCast Ajay Devgn Rakul Preet Singh R Madhavan Gautami KapoorRating 2 starsDe De Pyaar De 2 is not insufferable And thatrsquos perhaps the nicest thing I can say about this film which takes two of Indiarsquos most luminous stars mdash Ajay Devgn and R Madhavan mdash and dishes out a film that doesnrsquot even bother tryingArriving six years after the first film it walks back into the same idea mdash what happens when a woman in her 20s and a man in his 50s fall in love But it has none of the chutzpah of its first part falling further into an idea that R Balki brilliantly executed in Cheeni Kum 2007 Very little of it actually works in this sitcomstyle messy bewildering and even convoluted story Why am I watching this thenWell Madhavan is simply that good an actorThe story moves from where the first part left us After being faced with Ashishrsquos Devgn first wife Manju played beautifully by Tabu this time the mismatched frownedupon couple must get the blessings of Ayesharsquos Rakul Preet Singh parents It would seem like an easier task given that R Madhavanrsquos Rajji Khurana and his wife Gautami Kapoor are fairly cool parents They kiss in front of their kids have a drink with them and are fairly progressive in their thinking But this lsquohowliberalistooliberalrsquo story puts them to a gruelling test when they meet their daughterrsquos partner who is their age The real match is when the medicines match and that probably wasnrsquot the idea of bonding Rajji had in mind while envisioning his soninlaw Now with a better writer and more skilled director this AjayMaddy duel on screen could have had the sparkle that Tabu brought on screen in the filmrsquos last part But this time around itrsquos a rather oneman show with Madhavan going from confused to cheesed off and eventually on board with his daughterrsquos choice Some combative battle of wits would have made for a funnier watch I reckonInstead director Anshul Sharma decides to bring in an actor with perfectly chiselled abs because he perhaps has little faith in his ability to generate genuinely witty laughs Rajji to lure his daughter back to safety from the clutches of an older man makes her meet his friendrsquos son Meezaan Jafri hoping that sparks fly between them In turn the screenplay moves further into more jokes about age gap and several of them are seriously unfunnyPredictably Luv Ranjan Sharma and writers cannot bring themselves to believe that women are capable of being strongheaded creatures who wonrsquot get swayed simply by sixpack abs mdash neither on screen nor in real life If Ayesha has decided to bring a man their age into her parentsrsquo homes she probably has given this more thought than the writers didMeezaan is easy on the eye and does his good boy routine perfectly much like the dismal Nadaaniyan where he was an absolute showstealer But itrsquos his father played by his reallife father Jaaved Jafferi who bring out an unusual and easy chemistry with Devgn reminding us of what the superstar is capable of in his topformI had hoped that the film would delve deeper into expectations mismatch between an older man dating a young woman the insecurities that stem from how life experiences have led them to different planes in their lives but the film is either interested in serving gags or melodrama Producer Ranjan who has made a career of writing brocomedies makes me wonder if he knows the bros enough Of course his writing has moved from the puerile 2015 hit Pyaar Ka Punchnama but it still lacks the heft to show men as wellrounded characters in sync with their emotions trying to do better than what patriarchy allows them The only silver lining here is that the happiness and desires of women are acknowledged notwithstanding the larger double standards of the universe which felt refreshing The last 20 minutes of the film feels like a sharp twist but the fact that it meanders through homes in London Chandigarh and a farmhouse for more than two hours before coming to the actual point is a deal breakerWhile I found myself lost in the onemillion silly gags of the film I did admire Singh for holding her own in front of some seasoned actors It was a delight watching Suhasini Mulay after a long time on screen But mostly one canrsquot help but miss Tabu who gave the last part a wicked cheekiness which is absolutely absent from this sequelDe De Pyaar 2 pretends to be something else is actually a whole different film with men and women who need to speak to their therapist at the earliest There are too many revengeseeking people including manipulative parents unforgiving lovers trying to indulge in a game of oneupmanship to be sincere about emotions and be honest about what they truly seek and desire Of course the film ends with lsquolet adults be adultsrsquo message but the long drawn approach it takes to deliver on a rather simple logline is hardly heartfelt I really hope in the next edition in the film franchise Tabursquos Manju make a return in love with a hot young man I am just curious what the reactions will be and hopeful that it will make for a far more interesting filmYUCK WHATEVER GOOD SUPER AWESOME

De De Pyaar De 2 review: Wants to be wise but mostly just wanders

De De Pyaar De 2
U/A: Comedy, family drama
Dir: Anshul Sharma
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Rakul Preet Singh, R Madhavan, Gautami Kapoor
Rating: 2 stars

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / De De Pyaar De 2 review: Wants to be wise but mostly just wanders

De De Pyaar De 2 review: Wants to be wise but mostly just wanders

De De Pyaar De 2U/A: Comedy, family dramaDir: Anshul SharmaCast: Ajay Devgn, Rakul Preet Singh, R Madhavan, Gautami KapoorRating: 2 stars

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

De De Pyaar De 2
U/A: Comedy, family drama
Dir: Anshul Sharma
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Rakul Preet Singh, R Madhavan, Gautami Kapoor
Rating: 2 stars