Dream Girl 2 Review: Ayushmann Khurrana’s Cross Dressing Act Goes From Gags To Gaslighting So Fast, Like The Fuckboy You Dated
Strictly for gags.
1 / 5
The announcement of Dream Girl 2 begged the question, do we really need a spiritual sequel of a ‘one-joke’ film with the same set of actors? The first half of Dream Girl 2, with Ayushmann Khurrana bringing back his seductive cross-dressing act as Pooja and a host of comedic talent armed with disarmingly funny punchlines, almost gets you on board with the idea. I even bought into Ananya Panday’s small-town girl act. But come second half, the Raaj Shaandilyaa film begins a painfully slow descent into ridiculousness. What’s worse, the ending is so rushed and uninterested in bearing any responsibility, it sounds like that fuckboy who gaslighted you into thinking that you, with your expectations, were at fault the entire time.
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In Mathura resides Jagjit Singh, a penniless man living in an old haveli, obsessed with taking loans and not repaying them. He often uses his son Karam’s flair for impersonating a seductive female voice to get out of sticky situations, like calls from a credit card loan recovery agent. Karam is in love with a lawyer Pari, and Pari’s father demands that he have a well-paying job with a few lakhs in the bank. Karam’s friend Smiley gets him a job as Pooja the dancer in a bar he manages. Initially hesitant, Karam agrees for the sake of his love and even turns the owner Sona Bhai, into an admirer. Next thing he knows, Karam’s greedy father and Smiley have convinced him to let Pooja be a therapist to Shahrukh, the son of a rich man who is willing to pay a lot of money to anyone who can bring his son out of depression.
The result is a comedy of errors with Karam, cross-dressing as Pooja, trying to navigate a dual life, men’s (and women’s) advances, and Pari’s suspicions.
In its first half, Dream Girl 2 is bulging at its sides with gags as Pooja entices men into falling for her lies, egged on by her father and best friend. The combined insane comedic might of Annu Kapoor, Manjot Singh, Vijay Raaz, Manoj Joshi, Rajpal Yadav, and Paresh Rawal is aimed at you, the audience, as the film joke-bombs any doubts you might have about the film. And these are blunt punches, not cleverly written humour or satire, but like a decent standup set by a comedian from The Kapil Sharma Show (there’s a nod to it too). Ayushmann Khurrana has this small-town guy act down pat, and his Pooja turns on the seduction like it hasn’t been four years since we last saw her. It all works fine.
Does it matter that Dream Girl 2 lacks a heart or doesn’t even bother to give us a taste of the intense love between Karam and Pari, for which he was willing to go to these lengths? At least Dream Girl (2019) had that. At least in Dream Girl, Karam’s gig as Pooja, a female phone entertainer, addressed issues like loneliness and consequent depression. His desperation to take up the high-paying job was understandable; we saw him romance Mahi and felt their chemistry. In Dream Girl 2, however, it’s all just superficial greed that forces Karam into doing things he doesn’t want to do; it stops being about the girl a long time back. In fact, Ananya Panday isn’t even properly eye candy in the film, so fleeting are her appearances and so inconsequential her dialogues. And I forgot Abhishek Banerjee was even in this film.
Also Read: Dream Girl 2 Screening: अपनी ड्रीम गर्ल Ananya Panday को चीयर करने पहुंचे Aditya Roy Kapur, देखें तस्वीरें!
Till the gags work, and you reflexively laugh at what’s happening on screen, you’re engaged. And there are jokes aimed at everything from Ayushmann’s last name and Roadies stint to Shah Rukh Khan, to the topically relevant Gadar. You can look past the film’s lack of an emotional core, unnecessary songs running interference, and its atrocious editing, and think “Hey, I’m laughing. This might just work.” But at the back of my mind, as an abrupt and bizarre intermission point arrives, I am wondering how they plan to end this film. With Ayushmann’s knack for driving social messaging home in a cheesy but effective way, that could be one direction. But how do you do that when you invested all your time in comedy and didn’t even think about building a real connection between your characters and your audience’s emotions?
The answer arrives at an excruciatingly slow pace in the second half, in which the film, at first, flounders directionless. I found myself physically cringing at the film’s efforts to add more complications to Pooja’s already complicated situation, which isn’t funny anymore. At one point, an off-handed joke is made about violence against women. A second funeral scene arrives, talking about the pressure on women to have children. It is a fake marriage, sure, but the fact that this is an interfaith marriage that ended badly hangs in the air, and the conversation could very well steer in a dangerous direction. Fortunately, it doesn’t.
But only because Dream Girl 2 isn’t interested in taking anything seriously. So despite writing in issues like queer love, ageism, unhappy marriages, and toxic parent-child relationships into its plot, the film runs in the other direction every time it must talk about them, like a guy with commitment issues.
That ending, though. At the cost of spoiling the climax for you, we get a monologue that is a masterclass in gaslighting. Karam as Pooja berates every single person in his life for pushing him into this situation where he has to lie about being a woman. It’s like watching Ayushmann hand out 30-seconder social message reels to each of the characters; one of them gets a one-liner that goes, “Love is love, bro!” Are we serious here? Maybe then it’s a good thing the film decided not to disperse gyaan, because if this is how you half-ass it, we’re better off!
I’ve stopped questioning why in our movies, women like Ananya Panday’s Pari—educated, employed, kind-hearted—fall for men like Karam. But the fact that the film doesn’t even try to lend some tact to Karam, a man who regularly steps into women’s shoes, and instead makes him gaslight the woman he loves into thinking all of his problems are somehow her fault is just disappointing. But not in the least surprising. These are the men in our movies and in our lives that we’re okay with. Never apologising for their mistakes; simply blaming others for their situations. What’s worse? They’re easily forgiven too! And just like that, the movie ends. Yep. After dragging its feet for the entirety of its second half, the film ends with one shocking revelation, a dance number, and a monologue in rapid succession. As if the person writing the end wanted to pee so badly and just got it over with, before anyone realised what absolutely nonsensical that ending is.
Also Read: What To Watch This Week Of August 21 To 27: Akeli, Dream Girl 2, King Of Kotha, And More
Verdict
For a film called Dream Girl 2, it is so guy-coded, it’s laughably sad.
Dream Girl 2 could’ve been so many things, the least a journey of a man who comes to understand the pros and cons of belonging to both genders. But the film is so afraid of opening up and talking about its emotions and has severe commitment issues to any cause. It just wants to use humour to keep things going. And it works in the start, but jokes will only get you so far, na?
From An Action Hero to Dream Girl 2 is a mighty fall for Ayushmann Khurrana and it breaks my heart because he is talented, and has a knack for delivering sincere social message films and good comedy. As Pooja, he could’ve done more of that. But the only message I see here is for actors out there, that sequels, spiritual or otherwise, are not always a good idea. Especially when you have nothing good to offer.
Dream Girl 2 is in theatre from August 25, 2023.
What To Watch This Week Of August 21 To 27: Akelli, Dream Girl 2, King Of Kotha, And More
