Dream Girl 2 Review - A Wannabe Dream Comedy Turned Into An Almost Nightmare

Dream Girl 2 Review: Ayushmann Khurrana is back as Pooja in Raaj Shandilyaa's Dream Girl 2. The idea of gender-bending comedy hasn't been explored to its core in Bollywood. The last full-fledged attempts in my memory are Aunty No. 1 and Chachi 420—both heavily inspired by Hollywood movies. Good-looking cross-dressing comedies like "Tootsie" (1982) and "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993) never made it to my must-see list, but they have been quite noticeable for this category. Erst Lubitsch introduced me to the idea of gender-bending comedy way back in time with his silent flick, "I don't Want To Be A Man" (1918). But my best memory of this theme takes me to Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" (1960), and I don't think any film can ever replace it. Dream Girl is in the same category if you talk about the similarities, but as a film, it's hundreds of miles away. You show me that film again today, and it would still be better and far more modern than DG 2. The idea has to look fresh, and it should be wrapped in organic laughter. That's how you make a cult film. Dream Girl 1 had that freshness because we never had any female-caller film, and it was a perfect entertainer for the mobile era. The film wasn't anything great or extraordinary enough to get a mandatory sequel, and it didn't even become a brand. Yet, some money-loaded minds in Bollywood have that urge to make a sequel to a box office hit, and so we have Dream Girl 2. This Raaj Shandilyaa comedy has comedy, but it's terribly outdated and badly written. Those 130 minutes never turn into a headache, and that's the biggest Thanksgiving. Rest assured, you are in for some hysterical one-liners from Shahrukh and Suniel Shetty to Shilpa Shetty, as well as lots of filmy-style lines and spoofs.Dream Girl 2 is about Karamveer (Ayushmann Khurrana), a Jagrata singer and dancer who is going through financial debts. He is in love with a lawyer named Pari (Ananya Panday), and they both wish to get married soon. However, Pari's father is against the marriage, as he wants his son-in-law to have a steady job and a solid bank balance. He gives Karam six months to achieve that, but is that easy? As Karam says, "Roadies chal raha, task de rahe ho mujhe?" To win Pari's hand in marriage, Karam is advised to become Pooja, the "Dream Girl," by his best friend, Smiley (Manjot Singh). After his portrayal of Pooja, there are Sona Bhai (Vijay Raaz), Shahrukh (Abhishek Banerjee), Tiger Pandey (Ranjan Raj), Shahrukh's father, Abu Salem (Paresh Rawal), his sister, Jumani (Seema Pahwa), and others to make this one crazy maze of fun, misunderstandings, and laughter.Dream Girl has a funny script and kicking one-liners, but the screenplay feels illogical most of the time. You don't even realise when it turns into a daily soap and then switches again to feature film mode. The flaws are unlimited, but some can be forgiven as long as they bring enough gags. An educated lawyer doesn't have the IQ to understand why MF Hussain's horse paintings are worth 5 lacs. A person can become a girl just to make money so that he can marry his girlfriend, but he is never worried about a steady job, which will make his married life happy. A homosexual person in depression can have a smile on his face just by looking into a girl's eyes, and the next moment they are reading Nikah—without even having a conversation. A big bunch of supporting cast members have no tail and no head to their characters, yet the entire plot revolves around them. The hero is all talk, no action, and no work, but he loves the girl and can do anything. The old tricks of oranges, toilet changing, and one man at one place with two personalities continue insisting on reliability tirelessly. The flaws are too many and can't be overlooked, so a little bashing is needed here. Raaj Shaandilyaa and Naresh Kathooria, Are you sure you were writing a modern comedy? Dream Girl is all about Ayushmann Khurrana, and the first film proved why. Aayushmann was in a different form then, and he's pretty dull nowadays. Well, the box office results don't seem to have any side effects on his performance. Yes, Dream Girl 2 is too cheesy and pulpy for his stature, but he never made it look cheap. It could have been so with any other actor of his generation, I tell you. Pooja's voice worked for me alright, but not her physical appearance. Why were those males going gaga over her, by the way? Ananya Panday comes and goes with small small scenes and looks beautiful in every single one of them. Acting wasn't required here. Dream Girl 2 has a dream cast for any comedy movie you can think of, but are those comedy legends justified? Somewhat Yes, somewhat no. Paresh Rawal hardly has any gags for you, and Annu Kapoor is totally out of form. Both feel exhausted while delivering their dialogues. Seema Pahwa seems to have fun, but she's too loud sometimes. Rajpal Yadav makes his presence felt, while Abhishek Banerjee is mostly silent. The table topper here is Vijay Raaz. He has a fine role to play and some hilarious dialogues that were written for him only. Nobody else could have made those dialogues come alive like he did. Manjot Singh is typically funny; Asrani passes away before you can know that he is alive; and Manoj Joshi's boyish accent isn't helpful at all.Comedy is not easy. I agree, but it's definitely easier than turning the same comedy into cringeworthy jokes. Raaj must have been very fond of Facebook memes and WhatsApp forwards because his writing seemed more dependent on them. Talking about technical aspects, Dream Girl 2 would land in a safe zone. The camerawork, editing, and background score have been decent enough. Raaj Shaandiyaa has directed only one movie to date, so it's technically unfair to ask too much of him. If it weren't for those expectations, or even the standalone sequel to cash in on the non-existing brand, then Dream Girl 2 would have been a decent, average comedy. But if he is trying to make something out of his previous box office hit and letting people think that this is the same material again, which is happening with Dream Girl 2 if I'm not wrong, then sorry. It's a below-average film and an almost skippable affair. A wannabe dream comedy turned into a nightmare, but my question is, why dream so much in the first place?