Available on Prime Video
It’s been 16 years since Rakesh’s Bunty (not Abishek Bachchan) & Vimmi’s Babli (still Rani Mukerji) haven’t looted anyone living a happy family life. Until one day, YRF got the idea of remaking its classic and now we’ve Bunty, Babli 2.0 in Kunal (Siddhant Chaturvedi), Sonia (Sharvari Wagh) to trap & rob people.
Even if part 1 wasn’t a parameter, this still would’ve ended up as a poor comedy with great performers who hold the power to turn the film around. Some sequences feel straight-up like rejected ideas from the original. Avik Mukhopadhyay’s cinematography in part 1 shone brightly due to the earthy locations makers shot at. Saif Ali Khan tries a little too hard to fill in Bachchan’s shoes in this one. Though the body language is completely different because of the 16-years jump, the accent comes across as artificial at times. Rani Mukerji’s Vimmi has always been a loud character but this time it really bothered me because of its poor sketch. Apart from one or two genuine sequences, she was too loud too often. Before going into it, I had the maximum expectations from Siddhant Chaturvedi because of course Gully Boy, but like every other good actor on the list even he fails to attract the attention with basically nothing. Sharvari lacked energy or something was pulling her back making the whole vibe of her character very dull. Even in the scenes in which she has to shout, she tried too hard to not overdo it hence limiting the natural flow. Pankaj Tripathi looked like he shot Ludo and this one during the same period. That would’ve been a compliment if his role was even as remotely funny as Ludo. I don’t remember when was the last time when some film wasted Pankaj Tripathi.
All said and done, Bunty Aur Babli 2 is a cool idea going down the drain due to poor story.