Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba Review: Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey Film Is A Compelling Sequel With Some Ifs And Buts!
Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is directed by Jayprad Desai and written by Kanika Dhillon. Here's the review!
3 / 5
Pagalpan ki hadd se na guzre, woh pyaar hi kaisa? This dialogue pretty much sums up the plot of Hasseen Dillruba. Oh, what an intense and twisted story of love and revenge. I won’t ponder much on that because our long wait to know the fate of Rani and Rishu’s love story has finally ended with Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’s release on Netflix. Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey have reprised their roles in the sequel and Sunny Kaushal gets to play a pivotal character. Written by Kanika Dhillon and directed by Jayprad Desai, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba got us seated with an interesting first half but post-interval the film gets lost in all its plot twists. Characters, performances and writing, I have loads to unpack in this review. Also, it’s spoiler-free, phew!
Plot
Since I cannot reveal much about the plot of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, I will take you through the basics. Rani (Taapsee Pannu) has opened her salon and lives in a PG all by herself. No, but wait, Rishu (Vikrant Massey) is not very far and they continue to meet in the dark. Obviously, because Rishu is dead as per the police records. If you don’t remember Hasseen Dillruba’s plot, don’t worry, the sequel will refresh your memory with a nice throwback sequence (no kidding, it was genuinely good). Fast forward, we are introduced to Sunny Kaushal’s Abhimanyu, and the character falls in love with Rani the moment he sees her. Well, her charm is such, who wouldn’t right? Moving on, Rishu and Rani plan to escape from India and are saving up for it as well.
But, well god (writer Kanika Dhillon) had other plans for them and here’s when we are introduced to the character of Jimmy Shergill. He plays a cop and is also Neel’s relative, so he reopens the case to find Neel’s murderer. Aditya Srivastava’s Kishore Rawat also teams up with him. And since the matter is personal to both of them, Rani and Rishu are bound to have a hard time. After the investigation begins, Rani and her dialogue inspired by Dinesh Pandit’s novels also return. Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba gets more twisted as Rani and Rani look for ways to escape and they end up making Abhimanyu their scapegoat. The second half of the film is all about plot twists, drama, and revenge that happen between Rani, Rishu and Abhimanyu. There are shockers till the end but were they worth it, the review will explain!
Going with the positives first!
The first half of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba was impressive, TBH. The eeriness in the plot that came along with Sunny Kaushal’s Abhimanyu was intriguing. But to see Rani and Rishu’s chemistry again was a cherry on the cake, however, it died down after a point. The story set a strong premise which got us invested in knowing about Rani and Rishu’s final fate. The addition of Jimmy Shergill’s character added a sense of hope that this time, the smart couple would not be able to escape with their devious schemes. I was aware of Abhimanyu’s dark side but it was really hard to predict how the character arc would unfold in the storyline. Rani and Rishu’s chemistry was strong but at the same time, other elements made me think otherwise. I would happily give the credit to the writing here because by the time interval happened, questions were overflowing in my mind.
A Moment For The Past!
Jayprad Desai chose an interesting way to give us a quick throwback into Rani and Rishu’s life. With ‘Ek Hasina Thi Ek Diwana Tha’ playing in the background, Rani and Rishu slowly move towards each other (they can’t make it obvious), rain pouring down heavily, exactly like some “Qayamat aayegi” moment, it gave me chills! The sequence was beautifully shot and executed!
The incorporation of elements like rain, water, darkness and crocodiles was brilliantly used to create the suspense and eerie atmosphere throughout. Many sequences that had rain were quite intense. Among all, I can recall the one where Rani asks Abhimanyu to marry her. Well, a part of Rani’s plan but her seductive nature to woo and win a man’s heart in a romantic setting just adds more old-school charm to the scene.
Also Read: Exclusive: Kanika Dhillon Opens Up On Working With Taapsee Pannu In 5 Films: “I Know Her Weakness…”
Performances Were Pretty Decent
Now, the bar was set with the first film, agreed! Taapsee Pannu as Rani did not lose her charm even in this sequel. The character’s intense looks when she spoke about Dinesh Pandit’s novels or the nuanced bit where Rani had to keep her calm amid all the chaos, everything was pulled off with ease by Taapsee Pannu. Even Vikrant Massey did justice to his grey character as Rishu. Since the actor had already imbibed the sadistic nature of Rishu by the end of Hasseen Dillruba, he looked more comfortable portraying it in the sequel. However, there was a layer of self-doubt in this one, but it only added more suspense to the plot, I guess so! Sunny Kaushal was quite a surprise package, I would say. His character brings in some unexpected plot twist to the film and Sunny has delivered it through his performance for the major part. Jimmy Shergill as the U.P police plays quite safe and well, does not have much to experiment with his character!
Post-Interval, The Disappointments Begin!
The plot, of course, moves in sync with Dinesh Pandit’s novels, and mind you this time, it’s not just one but many. So you can imagine the number of twists you are signing up for! However, in the second of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, many things in the story go off-track. The cat-and-mouse chase between Rani, Rishu, Abhimanyu and the police becomes more tangled. So much so, that after a point I wanted it to stop. The plot goes on to overexplain itself a little too much, and that too till the end of the film. Only, in the last five minutes, do we discover the real truth behind Rani and Rishu’s fate as lovers. The shockers also became exhausting after a point, and it left me with a feeling of, “Bro I don’t want to know anymore”. This was a sign of bad writing!
No Character Arcs!
I was disappointed to see how Rani’s character falls flat in the sequel. There was no moment of surprise whatsoever. We were so amazed to watch the same Rani in Hasseen Dillruba. While I loved to see her charm, she did not get to be the focal point in the sequel. Rani was sidelined in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba and was reduced to being a driving force behind whatever Rishu and Abhimanyu ended up doing for their love.
Also, while Vikrant Massey’s grey character got my attention, his character also ends up being underwhelming, and the stretched storyline overshadows the strengths of his character.
Honestly, a more crisp and refined ending to this saga of love, revenge and thrill would have been more appreciated. The chemistry between Rishu and Rani did not come out well either, because the writing was so much more focused on making it an overdose of twists. A very surface-level writing of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba had me come out of the theatre with a heavy heart.
Verdict: A Thrilling Blend Of Love And Revenge, Sunny Kushal Shines
Keep your hopes high from the first half of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba. There are not many shockers when it comes to the lead characters in the film, except a few which I hope are not ruined for you with the “I’ll explain everything” kinda plot. Although, I hoped to have been left with a cliffhanger. Post-interval, the plot can get exhausting. Taapsee Pannu as Rani and Vikrant Massey as Rishu have done a decent job with their characters, was hoping to see more graphs there. Sunny Kaushal certainly shows his potential to pull off a low-key guy character of Abhimanyu. Overall you may want to spare 2 hours for this film on Netflix just to know how the life of Rani and Rishu unfolds after their chaotic past. Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is all yours to judge!
First Published: August 09, 2024 12:52 PM
