The problem with many Hindi rom-coms nowadays is their dramatic narrative. Did De De Pyaar De 2, a sequel to Ajay Devgn and Rakul Preet Singh’s film, become a victim of this curse too? Co-written by Luv Ranjan and Tarun Jain, and directed by Anshul Sharma, the film also stars R Madhavan, Gautami Kapoor, Javed Jaaferi, and Meezaan Jafri in pivotal roles. Rakul’s character must convince her parents about a 50-year-old boyfriend, and this forms the basic premise of the film. However, to what extent was the practicality of this situation maintained? Here’s me discussing that, along with the performances, of course!
Plot
As shown in the first part of De De Pyaar De, Ayesha falls in a love with Ashish (Ajay Devgn), a 51-year old divorcee, and in the sequel, it’s the man’s turn to meet the girl’s family. R Madhavan and Gautami Kapoor have played the role of Ayesha’s mom-dad. Ishita Dutta and Tarun Gehlot are seen in the role of Ayesha’s sister-in-law and brother, respectively. The first half revolves around the clash between Ayesha and her parents, and in the second half, we see the entry of Meezaan Jafri’s character, a young potential man who is best suited for Ayesha, according to her dad. The twist, turns and drama unfolds in the second half.
Performances
R. Madhavan as the “Progressive, modern, educated banne ki acting karte hue” hypocrite dad steals the show. Through his balanced performance, the actor makes the dramatic father look bearable. He is top-notch in the emotional scenes, and the true performer in him has saved many scenes in the film!
Ajay Devgn is mostly a spectator in De De Pyaar 2. His overly mature character, as Ashish, is mostly portrayed as the green-flag man, who attempts to always make the right decision in Ayesha’s best interest. This flat character never got my interest and I believe, the film would move forward even without Ashish.
Rakul Preet Singh’s Ayesha was annoying. While I understand her to be the woke, independent woman who doesn’t need the permission of her parents to marry an older guy, but is, anyway, doing it, her character was deeply problematic, too. The anger, immaturity, and over-smart nature to always stay two steps ahead of her parents are exaggerated in the film. And it was a lot to accept and digest, for most parts, we were not on the same page. Well, looking at it from the lens of a Luv Ranjan film, of course, she has to be this dramatic! While the actor delivers what the character demands, I’d have liked it to be a little toned down in nature.
The supporting actors in the film have play their parts well. Jaaved Jaaferi as the very honest best friend to Ashish is natural again, and his perfect comic-timing, is a charm! Meezaan Jafri, as the potential love interest for Ayesha is also decent.
Screenplay, Characters
From the very beginning, the loud tone of De De Pyaar De 2, and the overstimulated characters were bothering me. The first half of the film had my interest mostly for these reasons: R Madhavan, the rightly done awkward meetings between the guy and the parents, forced niceness, some old movie references blended in the scenes and dialogues, and a few relatable father-daughter conversations, especially the dad’s concerns. However, post-interval, the narrative takes a dip. And no, even this film is not saved by the curse of adding unnecessary drama. Just for a twist, De De Pyaar De 2‘s narrative is dragged to a level where the film becomes boring. The comedy is lost, the story stops making sense, the characters go haywire, and nothing seems to be pleasant anymore.
The whole point of Rajji and Ashish trying to prove themselves as the perfect dad, and boyfriend respectively is so childish. I mean how did the film go from becoming a very practical real life scenario to a brainless version of the same. Was it the same film that I was genuinely having fun with in the first half, despite the faults?
Verdict
De De Pyaar De 2 had some surprisingly pleasant moments, in the first half. I thoroughly enjoyed R Madhavan’s performance until that too became annoying towards the end. Performances in general are average, but again, the story left me frustrated. The twist, the drama were not enjoyable at all, and the little gags that I seemed to be enjoying also went missing. De De Pyaar De 2 could be one-time watch, so now decide! It will hit theatres on November 14.