The cops, too, aren’t far away. Fresh on the case is Mrityunjay Paswan (Jimmy Shergill), a police inspector with a personal motive. He is the uncle of Neel—the smug hunk played by Harshavardhan Rane in the original film—who was the first victim of Rani and Rishu’s explosive romance. It’s all too convenient, but one plays along, waiting for the smarts, curbing the urge to say, ‘Oh, I know how this is going to pan out’. Written by Kanika Dhillon (Manmarziyaan, Judgementall Hai Kya), the film pretends to be sharper than it is. The dialogues are schmaltzy and at times illogical. “Pyaar do logo mein hota hain, teen logo mein saanp seedi kheli jaati hain (Love is between two people, three can only play a game of snakes and ladders).” A line that seems straight out of a WhatsApp uncle’s guide to polyamory.Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba basks in the pulp aesthetic. A saree-clad woman drenches in the night showers as a man admires her; the same man smiles for a little too long as the woman sits opposite him on a boat, in the middle of a river lurking with crocs. But it all feels merely an exercise in style, since the mystery itself unties rather easily. This time, Taapsee Pannu seems ill-at-ease in the role of Rani. She is lukewarm in expressing the sultriness of a femme fatale. Vikrant Massey, an otherwise convincing actor, has nothing to chew on. Sunny Kaushal’s turn from simp to psycho can be seen from miles away, but he has a wicked streak that is engaging. Jimmy Shergill, on the other hand, plays a cop who is either too involved or absent from the case. There is no middle.Like in the previous film, the twisted ones in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba take lessons on love, life and murder from the fictional author Dinesh Pandit. I sighed every time a character begins, “Panditji kehte hain…(Panditji says).” The only instance I got up from my chair was when a character slowly walks in as Taapsee’s voiceover gives a biographical account of the pulp author. “Thirty years ago, he was insulted and fired from a police station. Since then, he is taking revenge against cops through his stories,” she says. Sadly, the character wasn’t Dinesh. But what if? A murder in a murder mystery by a murder mystery novelist. Now that would be something.Movie: Phir Aayi Hasseen DillrubaDirector: Jayprad DesaiCast: Taapsee Pannu, Sunny Kaushal, Vikrant Massey, Jimmy ShergillStreamer: NetflixRating : 2.5/5
Source link
