'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II' is one of the funniest dark comedies to come out of India in recent time. It's part spoofy, part pulp fiction, part bloodbath and part comically bizarre. It opens hilariously with the following line: "this is a mindless work of fiction, the characters happen to be fictional despite our sincere efforts. the locations however are real. the story has been plagiarised from several films". Then it is followed by an amusing item number that features Ganesh Acharya, some boys and girls and a piglet.
Though I must say that 'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II' is not a rip-off and it's clearly a work of inspiration. I also appreciated that the maker acknowledged their source of inspiration (something hardly any Hindi-film director does) that includes names like Kitano, Tarantino, Gopal Verma, Coen Brothers etc.
We are introduced to several funny characters: the protagonist who is ironically a copywriter (Arshad Warsi), his no-nonsense copper wife (Sandhya Mridul), his gangster friend (Prashant), his 'Maa' (Pratima Kazmi, The Bazpur Boys and many others. Then there are numerous appearances by celebrities like Ranvir Shorey, Shibani Kashyap, Kailesh Kher and Mahima Chaudhry, most of them who play themselves (in a spoofy way). Arshad Warsi's wife Maria Goretti Warsi also performs sensually in an item number.
The ensemble cast is impressively created as all the actors fit their parts like a glove. Arshad Warsi rocks! It's not an out and out comic role (the kind he's more known for) as the character does have multiple layers and the actor does an outstanding job. Sandhya Mridul is getting more versatile with each film and here as the tough cop but the vulnerable wife/girlfriend, she too holds her own. However, her character could have been a little further developed. Pratima Kazmi is back again in her not-to-be-messed-with kingpin (or queenpin) role, a part the audience certainly doesn't tire of watching her in and this time there's a touch of comedy which she effectively pulls off.
Vishal Shekhar's soundtrack is overall very appealing to people who have eclectic taste in music (like me). It features singers whom we rarely get to hear in movies like Kailash Kher, Shibani Kashyap, Rabbi Shergill etc. Many of them feature in the background while a few are well put in the foreground of the story. My favorite songs are Kher's 'Allah Ke Bande' and Kashyap's 'Sajna Aa Bhi Jaa'.
This is director and writer Shashanka Ghosh's achievement. She wonderfully brings it all together. As the tagline suggests: a not normal-urban film, it is indeed very 'not normal' but hugely entertaining, providing us many laugh out loud moments that might keep you laughing even after the end credits have rolled. :)
