Film: Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2
Director: Luv Ranjan
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sonalli Sehgal, Ishita Sharma, Omkar Kapoor, Sunny Singh
Excerpts from reviews of Pyaar Ka Punchanama 2:
If Ranjan’s intention with Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 was to make men turn their backs on women and contemplate homosexuality as the more emotionally sustainable option, then he’s hit the jackpot. A lot of women may well be turned off men too, despite the hunkiness of the heroes, because of the film’s inherent misogyny. For those who were hoping for a fun look at romance in modern India, the only thing Pyaar ka Punchnama 2 confirms is that this survey was right on the money when it listed “my friends hot mom” as one of the top search among Indian porn users.
– Deepanjana Pal (Firstpost.com)
The new movie is as overlong as the first, and as disinterested in narrative momentum. Its scenes exist in isolation from one another, and can easily be plucked out of context without losing meaning. Ranjan could have distinguished the sequel from the original by writing more interesting female characters, but all the comedy is stacked in one giant whiny heap on one side of the room. The director expends so much energy in running women down that he forgets just how unintelligent and uninspiring his heroes are. These guys are about as appealing as roadkill.
– Nandini Ramnath (Scroll.in)
The same old ‘bechara bhai-dom’ laced with the sort of casual gaalis which were naturally used in the original appear forced this time around. And anyway they are blipped out, so we can see their mouths going ‘ooo’ which makes us supply the ‘ch’ sound all through the film: it’s not just the boys, even our presumed tolerance for cheerful invective has regressed.
The girls are shopaholics. They are to be seen in various malls, speedily acquiring expensive cell phones and dresses which they do not ante up for: of course not, we are girls, what do you take us for? They are flighty. Not one has a good bone in her toned-by-hundreds-of-hours-on-the-treadmill bod. If an alien watched this film, it would go away thinking all girls are like these three supremely annoying manipulative young women.
As for the guys-who-are-forever-mamma’s boys, they are the victims of these devious females, who use their wiles, reel them in, and then string them along. Not one of them climbs out with any perspective or insight at all. What’s that? The first had some punch and was okay for a bunch of laughs. The sequel is flat and unfunny.
– Shubhra Gupta (Indianexpress.com)