Bunty Aur Babli 2

16 years ago, Shaad Ali came out with a movie titled Bunty aur Babli that gave us two memorable characters played by Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji. Today, they have gone ahead and made a totally unnecessary sequel that oozes mediocrity & the dearth of ideas in the industry.

Set a few years after the original, Rakesh Trivedi aka Bunty (who looks like Saif Ali Khan post plastic surgery) & Babli (Rani Mukherjee) are leading a normal life with their son Pappu. Meanwhile, a young couple, Kunal (Siddhant Chaturvedi) & Sonia (Sharvari Wagh) are out conning people in their name.

Recasting Abhishek Bachchan is the least of the sequel's problems. But yes, it is sad to see him replaced. The opening credits literally have scenes from the original with Saif replacing Bachchan in all his scenes. If that wasn't enough, they go ahead and cast a new gen version of the duo. Siddhant chaturvedi seems to be in limbo as he still channels his inner MC Sher. Sharvari wagh's Bollywood debut is decent. Saif & Rani are the better Bunty & Babli with the latter stealing the show.

Pankaj Tripathi takes over Big B's mantle but is ineffective. Yashpal Sharma, Ansari, Gopal Dutt, Prem Chopra, Brijendra kala & Rajiv Gupta co-star. The plot twists are predictable and social messages behind the cons are uncalled for.

The only ones getting conned here are the people who watched this movie. So, steer clear. This sequel is obnoxious & insipid.

Today, after 16 years when I think about the original Bunty Aur Babli (2005), I am fondly reminded of -

a. The natural fun filled chemistry of the leading couple aka Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee.

B. Insanely colorful but interesting dressing of Babli aka Rani Mukherjee.

C. Bullish presence of Amitabh Bachchan.

D. Iconic song 'Kajrare kajrare' performed by Aishwarya Rai and overall good and peppy numbers.

However, in the sequel Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021) -

a. The chemistry between the lead pair Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee is quite bland.

What happened to Karan and Rhea of Hum Aur Tum (2004)?

B. Except for some post interval scenes in Abu Dhabi, Babli aka Rani Mukherjee's dressing and makeup is quite garish.

Even her mode of acting is unnecessary loud with nuances of over-acting.

Why did a seasoned actress like Rani resort to such insecure performance?

C. Well, Pankaj Tripathi has performed his usual self and kept his scenes relatively entertaining.

But can Big B's aura be replaced? Absolutely not.

D. Forget any iconic number, the entire music of the movie is quite forgetful.

An interesting observation:

Saif Ali Khan is supposed to look like a desi and rustic small towner in major parts of the film, but ends up looking royal. Also, a tad bit jaded.

While Siddhant Chaturvedi is supposed to look like a city bred educated and suave gentleman, but still looks more of a desi and rustic lad!

Why happened to the Langda Tyagi level of performance, enacted by Saif in Omkara (2006)?

How long will Siddhant take to come out of the mould of a 'desi gully boy'?

In the sequel, only Rani and Pankaj manage to carve clear characters and hold on to them throughout the movie. Saif just delivers his lines with no impact or single characterization.

The leading pair look quite dapper in their expansive designer wears, in the foreign location scenes that appear shortly after the interval.

They also have a plump faced young male child in the film who manages to score few laughter now and then.

Gully Boy (2019) fame Siddhant carries well different prosthetics and debutant Sharwari looks quite confident.

Both of them are young and presentable with slim and toned bodies, but are unable to create any magic together.

Movie Analysis:

Overall, Bunty Aur Babli 2 is an average movie with no innovation, poor script and much left to be desired direction.

Last but not the least, this movie makes you feel the impossible. It makes you yearn for Abhishek Bachchan! His performance in the prequel was bang on.

Bunty Aur Babli 2 : Movie Review -

Bunty Aur Babli (2005) was a box office hit and has enjoyed a reasonable success over the years. The sequel for the con-comedy, 'Bunty Aur Babli 2', has come too late and it's totally useless and unnecessary. The comparison between these two is unavoidable but the fact that this film carries the brand and the characters forward is surely a commendable thing and perhaps the only good thing about it. The reason for it is, lots of franchise have gone with different characters and stories with the sequels just to cash on the brand values and fool audience, so thank God that this one has remained faithful to its base. YRF's new formula of con-comedy can't be called mediocre because even that would be a compliment for it.

Bunty and Babli are forced out of retirement after a spate of robberies with their trademark sigil start appearing across India. This Varun Sharma's script pits the old pair of Bunty and Babli against new set of the con artist. Then expectedly, the cat and mouse game begins and everything in those 140 minutes is highly predictable and mostly boring. To be frank, the formulas written in this film are too old to accept. I even bash these formulas when i see it in any films made before 1950s, then for 2021 it's too mediocre. Maybe, this new idea of bringing four con-artists together could have been formed interestingly but the lose screenplay makes it difficult. The screenplay struggles in the first half but then it shifts gear in the second half. There are some good enjoyable moments in the second half. Dialogues are decent which follows a typical local humor (sometimes irritating) along with fresh, youth oriented glamour. Bunty Aur Babli had a hit music album and some of the songs are still in our playlists. Compared to that, Bunty Aur Babli 2 music is way underwhelming.

Talking about performances, Bunty Aur Babli 2 is somehow better. Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji's chamistry is as natural as we see in any married couple but some of the scenes are terribly shot. In the second half, their glam appeal might attract you but that's not what i call Acting. The new set of Bunty And Babli is equally good. Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh both get to perform lots of roles as con artists, actually more varities compared to the senior pair. From accents to looks to postures to glamour, everything they do is convincing. Pankaj Tripathi adds some laughter and you know how he does it. This guy a pro-level comedian and actor and he has proved it again.

Varun Sharma could have done a lot better in his debut film with the kind of brand he chose. It's good that it was his first innings so we don't really know what his calibre and potential is. Therefore, we can't bash him for falling down on the very first step he took. But yes we might do it if he repeats the same in future. Overall, Bunty Aur Babli 2 is terribly outdated but that's not that biggest issue. It fails to recognise the old wave cinema within mainstream zone is what makes it A Crap!

RATING - 4/10*

Why, seriously why the made this? B aur B was one good movie but making a part of it, changing the characters, enforcing the new into the old, is a complete disaster.

Rani Mukherji, simply let it go, Saif Ali Khan, hope you know what you did.

Casting of Siddhant Chaturvedi, what on earth were they thinking. Pankaj Tripathi, fine actor, but for this role, the casting were seriously out of their mind.

The movie is so horrible, so sloppy, so bad that from the very start you realize that you are in for a headache and nothing more.

Just ignore this one for good and BTW thank you to the makers for making a horrible mockery of Kajara-rae.... shameful.

Even i was perplexed to see garbage coming from a excellent production company like YRF since 3 years. Pls wake up mr. Aditya Chopra and produce good movies. 1 star for saif 1 star for rani mam and other 1 star for sidhanth and sharvari. -7 due to poor script and silly comedy. Even pankaj tripathi is prefering quantity over quality these days.