Predictable, but keeps you hooked

Nonika Singh

Those like us who found ‘Haseen Dillruba’ not all that haseen don’t quite expect too much from its sequel. Yet, ‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’ comes riding on an interesting new twist, and additions. To say that ‘Phir…’ is more like aur aaeya Sunny Kaushal won’t be an exaggeration. More on his character of Abhimanyu later. The story takes off from where it climaxed. Lovers are on the run… for those who may have missed the prequel, a brief with the song ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ playing in the background takes you back in time so you can join the dots.

The news clip about crocodiles is not a random insertion but crucial to the film. Of course, questions still nibble at our intelligence quotient. Why Rani (Taapsee Pannu) and Rishabh (Vikrant Massey) choose to stay in UP when they could easily have eloped to remote parts of the country and stayed as a ‘happily ever after’ couple, beats us. But, then, strong reasoning is never the strong suit of Indian murder mysteries. This one coming from the pen of Kanika Dhillon, who wrote the previous instalment too, has spun a yarn that is as far-fetched as the first outing, high on twists and turns, and low on logic.

Yet, the narrative helmed by director Jayprad Desai of ‘Kaun Pravin Tambe?’ fame keeps us invested in this tell-tale of love, deceit, betrayal and intrigue. Rani and Rishabh have landed in Agra and for fear of being found out, are living separately. They communicate through headphones even when they are within hearing distance of each other. When their mobile phones come under the scanner, they scribble on walls.

Written word has power, who knows this better than Kanika, an author-turned-screenplay writer, and hence the dialogues are no less bombastic. ‘Jo pagalpan ki hadd se na guzre woh pyar hi kya, hosh mein to rishte nibhaye jaate hain,’ utters our sexy Rani (a consummate Taapsee). Her deep-cut blouses plunge deeper. A lone haseena can only invite a lone wolf, an admirer, and in walks Sunny Kaushal as compounder Abhimanyu.

Besotted and seemingly bechara, he is the third angle in the love triangle. Only, unlike Harshvardhan Rane of ‘Haseen Dillruba’, Sunny gets a lot of meat, literally as well. Undeniably, he impresses. His smile has that guileless quality which conceals more than it reveals. The enigma in his personality lends that mysterious tenor to the film and is exemplified rather evocatively by the actor, who is both restrained and expressive. Don’t miss his laugh in the end; it’s here that we hear the true echo of the song ‘Hanste Hanste’ (lyrics by Raj Shekhar).

Jimmy Sheirgill, the new cop in town, is impressive too. His quest to nail the culprit stems from a personal reason. He not only means business but is ready to circumvent the law and as he says, ‘Mere aur mere case ke beech mein kanoon bhi nahin aa sakta.’ To evade his hawk eye, Rani decides to manipulate Abhimanyu’s love. And the tale becomes less of a cat-and-mouse game between chor-sipahi and more between the three lead players.

Can Rani hoodwink Abhimanyu? Who will outsmart whom in this bloody game of love, akin to saanp and seedhi where each is out to defang the other? Kanika’s fangs are sharper and you are in for a bagful of surprises as the narrative oscillates from one extreme turn of events to another. Amid crocodiles in river waters, there are many with the reptile’s killer traits on the ground too. No one is what they appear to be except perhaps Rishabh. Vikrant Massey, who got to play a 360-degree arc in the prequel, is reduced to a single note here. Abhimanyu has a more interesting spin to his character, even if it’s obvious that appearances are deceptive. As he recounts his tragic past, you know what lurks beneath his amiable persona. Skeletons abound in the present too.

The inspiration for murderous deeds comes from Dinesh Panditji, the writer of crime novels. Almost like an invisible character, a la Kanika’s pen, Panditji and his novels with strange titles like ‘Kasauli Ka Kehar’ and ‘Magarmach Ka Shikanja’ are the recurring threads that bind its many characters.

The postscript has an intriguing plot point concerning Panditji too. It’s this seesaw battle between adversaries that ups our curiosity antennas even though the twisted climax is on expected lines.

The setting with a quaint, small-town charm, too, works in favour of its fast-paced and crisply-edited storytelling. Atmospherics, Rani in a blood-red sari cavorting in the rain, add to the pulp-fiction tone of this watchable film.

Streaming on Netflix, as you dive along in the stream of love, you can play the guessing games and might win nine times out of 10. Yet, it will not sap your desire to watch till the end. Curiosity never killed the cat, in a mystery genre at least.