Watch reviewDream Girl 2 Review: When Ayushmann Khurrana dressed up like a girl and grooved to the beats of Radhe Radhe in Dream Girl, it was nothing short of an iconic moment for contemporary Hindi cinema. How often do we get to see mainstream and cisgendered heroes challenge the status quo, shed their masculinity, slip under the skin of a woman and revel in the same without the slightest tinge of mockery attached to it? But it’s not surprising considering the hero in question is Ayushmann. Battling erectile dysfunction, turning into a sperm donor or a gay man, supporting his trans-partner, becoming a woman, addressing gender stereotypes as a male gynaecologist, time and again, the uninhibited actor has set new rules without ever shying away from embracing and standing up for soft masculinity onscreen.
Dream Girl 2 is no different. Four years later, he returns to a zone that is far removed from the Ayushmann Khurrana genre of cinema. Dream Girl 2, much like its first film, is also set in heartland India and but is an out-and-out frontbencher and commercial potboiler and is unabashedly unapologetic while being so. But what’s interesting is that this time around, Ayushmann’s Karam isn’t just emulating a woman’s voice over telephone calls. He’s seen role-playing a woman for most part of the film and taking on the role of a dancing queen clad in sarees, lehengas and other traditional ensembles in three whole songs. And despite being a part of some bizarre situations, he deserves praise for deftly treading the thin line between frivolity and entertainment.
Dream Girl 2 is set in Agra and starts with Karam performing at a local jagrata night. We’re soon introduced to his beautiful girlfriend, Pari, and her strict father, who are both lawyers. Karam and his dad live in their khaandaani palatial mansion but is on the brink of bankruptcy. When Pari’s father brings goes to Karam’s house to fix their wedding, all hell breaks loose because a couple of a bank officials arrive to seal their home for not being able to pay off a hefty loan.
To prove that he’s capable of supporting his darling daughter, Karam gets six months. To win her father over, he starts resorting to a lie and one thing leads to another until he finds himself in the soup. During these months, he’s seen from turning into a bar dancer to even marrying the depressed son of a wealthy Muslim man. In a nutshell, Dream Girl 2 is essentially a comedy of errors set against a desi backdrop.
Writing and bringing a comic caper to life is no cakewalk. Sometimes, what seems picture perfect on paper doesn’t translate into screen with the same magic. And sometimes, jokes don’t land and they seem too contrived from the word go. But thankfully, Dream Girl 2 doesn’t fall into either of these categories. The credit for the same goes to writers Raaj Shaandilyaa, who is also the director, and Naresh Kathooria. The screenplay is packed with punchlines, some witty and some silly, but they consistently crack you up. The first half, especially, is riddled with eccentric situations which may make you wonder what you have chosen to put yourself through but slowly, you learn to let go and get absorbed into Raaj’s world.
Everything about Dream Girl 2 is loud and rattling. There are too many characters but you won’t mind any of that. Only that at 133 minutes, the second half of the film feels a tad bit stretched out. But Raaj and his actors make sure that every time you question the length of the film, more one-liners, repartees and crazier subplots are thrown at you. In a scene when Abhishek Banerjee’s Mohammed Shahrukh tries to seduce his wife, the latter’s wig comes off. To this, Pooja starts shrieking, ‘Hairfall, hairfall!’ That remains one of the funniest scenes in the film!
Dream Girl 2 is silly and even pointless and it doesn’t try to be anything else. It doesn’t require you to exercise your grey matter. All the characters overact till they draw out your energy. And so, when the film takes a different and moral turn during its climax, you feel disheartened. Yes, Ayushmann is known for making social statements through narratives laced with humour but not everything needs to be a moral science lesson. The note on which the joyride ends leaves you underwhelmed. The film comes to an end out of nowhere and you will leave the theatre with many questions unanswered.
Ayushmann ably shoulders the rollercoaster. Karam and Pooja are eccentric and their haplessness makes you admire them even more. What stays back with you is his gait and dance moves. He completely sinks his teeth into becoming a woman and truth be told, he can give any heroine a run for their money. He effortlessly switches between Karam and Pooja and lights up the screen with his charisma and comic timing.
He shares a brilliant camaraderie with Annu Kapoor, Manjot Singh and Abhishek. Dream Girl 2 might be an easy-breezy affair but it takes courage, lots of it, to shed one’s star-like image and masculinity! Ayushmann, once again, proves that there’s nothing he can’t do. Even in the scenes when he has to play to the gallery (which is most part of it), you never really roll your eyes or frown upon him. He also shares an easy chemistry with Seema Pahwa’s Jumani, which is another interesting and oddball character. She’s unapologetic about her overbearing personality, many failed marriages and has no qualms about falling in love with a man younger than her. In short, she’s remarkable!
Amid these rapports, Karam’s chemistry with Pari takes a hit and that’s perhaps one of the weakest links in the film. Ananya Panday doesn’t have much to do in the story and has a rather vanilla character arc. However, she does a good job whenever she appears onscreen. The rest of the cast – Paresh Rawal, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi and Asrani – ably support Ayushmann and help create a cracker of a film.
Dream Girl 2 has chaos written all over it and that’s its biggest strength. Sometimes, all you need is a light entertainer to unwind and laugh till your stomach hurts, and Dream Girl 2 is exactly that. This Ayushmann starrer truly deserves a watch.
