Priyadarshan is back after a gap of almost eight years with Hungama 2, loosely based on his own Malyalam original Minnaram. The name, of course, brings to mind the 2003 film by the director. However, both the story and its much-appreciated humour have no bearing on the present instalment. Shilpa Shetty is back on the screen too after a gap of 14 years, but is now in news for what is little to do with the film.
Given the director’s signature style of conjuring up confusion to evoke laughter, we are mentally prepared to suspend our disbelief and take in the high-pitched slapstick comedy without asking too many questions . However, Hungama 2 tests our patience and how! With a run time of two-and-a-half hours, it’s an excruciating wait for a joke to land.
A poster of Hungama 2.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
The story revolves around a certain Colonel Kapoor (Ashutosh Rana), who plans to get his son Akash (Meezaan Jaffrey) married to his best friend Bajaj’s (Manoj Joshi) daughter. But in walks Akash’s college sweetheart Vaani (Pranitha Subhash), with a baby she claims is his. Yunus Sajawal’s screenplay then attempts to glean humour out of all the resultant confusion, but we are left feeling more annoyed and bored than charmed.
The outdated treatment, hackneyed dialogues and stale story make it a tough watch.
Meezaan and Pranitha try their best, but appear wobbly.
Though one has to give it to Paresh Rawal, a Priyadarshan staple, for his gleefully dumb, unapologetically silly performance as Tiwari, a man perpetually scared of being cuckolded. Apart from Rawal, Ashutosh Rana , Tiku Talsania and Shilpa Shetty have their moments and let a few chuckles come our way. A smashing cameo by Akshaye Khanna lifts our spirits momentarily, but Hungama 2 is just unnecessarily noisy and too stretched for it to be effective as a laugh riot. Unfunny and outdated.
Our rating: 1.5 Quints out of 5
Hungama 2 is streaming on Disney+Hotstar
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