Dream Girl 2 Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating
DREAM GIRL 2 is the story of a man who pretends to be a woman. Karam (Ayushmann Khurrana) lives with his father Jagjit (Annu Kapoor). Karam is jobless and both organize jagrata evenings for a living. Jagjit owes Rs. 40 lakhs to a bank and has also taken loans from other institutions and neighbours. Karam loves Pari (Ananya Panday) and her father Jaypal (Manoj Joshi) refuses to get his daughter married in a family with such financial conditions. He makes it clear that Karam can marry Pari once he's debt-free and after he accumulates Rs. 25 lakhs in his bank account. Karam is given six months to achieve these goals. This is when Karam's friend Smiley (Manjot Singh) asks him to dress up as a woman and perform at Sona Bar, where the latter works. Karam reluctantly agrees. Karam masquerades as the hot and sexy Pooja and asks Sajan Tiwari aka Sona Bhai (Vijay Raaz) for a job. Sona Bhai gets smitten by 'her' and allows 'her' to dance at his bar. Meanwhile, Smiley is in love with Sakina (Anusha Mishra). Her father Abu Saleem (Paresh Rawal) agrees to the union but first, he wants his son Shahrukh (Abhishek Banerjee) to get out of depression. He agrees to pay Rs. 10 lakhs to anyone who can cure his son. Smiley asks Karam for help. Karam agrees as it would solve Smiley's problem and also, he'll be able to fulfill his goal faster. Karam masquerades as Pooja the psychiatrist and tries to cure Shahrukh. His efforts prove futile. Abu Saleem, however, is impressed with Pooja and fixes Shahrukh's marriage with 'her'. Abu also announces that he'll pay Rs. 50 lakhs to Pooja's family in return. Karam is livid but at the insistence of Jagjit, he agrees. Since Abu has decided to marry Sakina with Smiley a day after Shahrukh and Pooja's wedding, Karam is asked to manage for just one night with Shahrukh. The marriage takes place but things go for a toss the next day. On top of it, Karam hasn't told Pari that he's pretending to be Pooja. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Naresh Kathooria and Raaj Shaandilyaa's story is simple and has all the trappings of a commercial blockbuster. Naresh Kathooria and Raaj Shaandilyaa's screenplay is interesting. Some moments are too funny and well thought out. Raaj Shaandilyaa's dialogues are hilarious and very witty. The one-liners are one of the USPs of the film.
Raaj Shaandilyaa's direction is praiseworthy. He gives the film a very mainstream treatment. He has peppered the film with hilarious and even bizarre characters and that’s what one expects in a comic caper. He lays out the plot neatly and ensures a lot of crazy stuff is happening in the film every second.
On the flipside, the narrative seems too quick. The usage of songs like ‘Naiyo Lagda’ and ‘Main Nikla Gaddi Leke’ is forced. The climax speech also doesn’t work. It’s bewildering to see Karam making Pari feel guilty when it was the former who lied to Pari about where he was getting the money from.
Speaking of performances, Ayushmann Khurrana is in top form. He looks quite sensuous as Pooja and impresses with his drag act. Ananya Panday is decent, but her screen time is limited. Annu Kapoor is nice, and Paresh Rawal is impressive. Rajpal Yadav (Shaukiya) is funny. Manjot Singh is dependable. Manoj Joshi is okay, and his lisp seemed unwarranted. Vijay Raaz could have been funnier. Abhishek Banerjee is fair. Anusha Mishra is hardly there. Asrani (Dadaji) is memorable. Seema Pahwa (Jumani) does quite well. Sudesh Lehri (Baby Baba) is forgettable, and one wonders why he was there in the first place. Ranjan Raj (Tiger Pandey) is the surprise of the film. Sapna Sand raises laughs as the school principal.
Dream Girl 2 – Official Trailer | Ayushmann Khurrana, Ananya Panday
Music is average. 'Dil Ka Telephone 2.0' is the best track of the lot. 'Naach', 'Jamnapar' and 'Main Marjawangi' don't create the desired impact. Hitesh Sonik's background score is a bit loud, and it works for a film of this genre. C K Muraleedharan's cinematography is neat. Ankita Jha's costumes are realistic but for Ayushmann's character of Pooja, it's quite vibrant as per the requirement. Rajat Poddar's production design is satisfactory. Hemal Kothari's editing is too quick.
On the whole, DREAM GIRL 2 works due to the plot, extremely funny scenes, commercial treatment, and performances, especially that of Ayushmann Khurrana. At the box office, it has the potential of scoring big time with its target audience.
