‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’, directed by Jayprad Desai, written by Kanika Dhillon, is the sequel to the 2021 romantic-thriller, ‘Haseen Dilruba’. It stars Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Sunny Kaushal and Jimmy Shergill in lead roles. Read the whole review here…
Overall Rating : 3.5/5
Pulp fiction engrained in the Hindi literature is one of a kind. From being absolutely juicy with the right mix of plot-twists & character-buildups, the perfect addition of one-liners gives a kind of joy which a reader dreams of! And when it becomes a movie, the joy is doubled. If you have read Dinesh Pandit novels which take pulp to a super entertaining level, this movie must not be missed.
Plot : ‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillrruba’ starts cleverly giving us a quick flashback of it’s predecessor ‘Haseen Dilruba’ where we see Rani Kashyap and Rishabh Saxena, ie, Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey crossing each other’s paths with subtle glances as ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ plays in the background. While they both are still very much in love, they are forced to stay away from each other because of their previous sins. Inspector Kishore (Aditya Srivastav) still has his doubts on Rani while Reeshu is hiding away from him as the cat-mouse chase continues. Enters Abhimanyu, played by the very able actor, Sunny Kaushal who falls in love with Rani, clueless of her past and present. After his continuous efforts which are ignored, Rani and Reeshu construct a master-plan to get out of the mesh which has been made by the local police and everything changes and becomes grey. To solve the whole mystery, enters Mritunjaya Paswaan (Jimmy Shergill) who is a senior police officer who is sharp, focused and doesn’t leave a case easily until he gets to the core of it. Also, it’s personal for him because his nephew, Neel’s (Harshvardhan Rane) death is his calling for revenge.
What We Loved : ‘Chalan se na chaal se, parkho unko unke dil ke haal se’. Poetic dialogues like these have stood out again all thanks to the credible writing by Kanika Dhillon. The core of Dinesh Pandit novels and pulpy-fiction-core works very well for the storytelling of the movie. The crisp 1st half is incredibly entertaining and enjoyable where the audience realizes that we needed a masala entertainer with an elite quality at the core. Not to forget, the addition of Sunny Kaushal has been nothing short of magical. The actor seems to have enjoyed playing his character who has stood out when it comes to being edgy and multi-shaded. Whoever gave the idea for giving colored lens to his character, deserves a raise.
Performances : Starting with the one we liked the most, Sunny Kaushal as Abhimanyu has given a twisted character an adorable shade. The amount of layers he had to portray with a believability has been delivered and how by Sunny. A big win for the actor unarguably and we hope to see him in the third part.
Taapsee Pannu as Rani Kashyap seems to have started from where exactly where she left. Being the center of the whole context and conflict, Taapsee does her job to the T and her performance has the right mix of comedy, naivety, street-smartness and edgy shades. She shines in her scenes with Jimmy Shergill.
One of the finest actors we have today, Vikrant Massey is back as Reeshu aka Rishabh Saxena but his character now has a past trauma, an uneasy hurry to change his life & surroundings, a serious concern which troubles him and his whole cutesy vibe has been removed in the sequel. The actor has caught the opportunity with both hands oh-so-smoothly. The writing definitely matched the standards of an actor like Vikrant.
The surprise package of the film, Jimmy Shergill is the perfect addition to the cast and it is indeed a big casting win. One of the most reliable actors from the industry, Jimmy has proved yet again what class he brings to the performances if given a meaty part. He has delicious scenes which are snowballed with earthy dialogues and smooth as cucumber aura.
What We Didn’t Like : As a viewer, I wanted closure to be honest. As much as I enjoyed the watching experience, I wanted Reeshu and Rani to settle down in Singapore and have a good life ahead away from these wild twists and running around. The climax hints at another sequel which is cleverly designed and kudos to the makers for the same but I honestly wanted closure. Also, we wanted more of Jimmy Shergill.
Conclusion : If you love Indian pulp novels and stories along with being someone who loved ‘Haseen Dilruba’, you will enjoy ‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillrruba’ for sure. Performed brilliantly by each and every actor, the film is a winner in this genre and offers unhinged entertainment. The dialogues and the music are another reasons to watch this gem.
