Hungama 2 Movie Review: Priyadarshan's Ensemble Comedy Will Make You Say 'Maa Hungama Tu Hi Bachaale'

Story

Meet Colonel Kapoor (Ashutosh Rana), a strict patriarch and ex-jailer whose pride is his prized possession, an antique sword from the British era which belongs to Lord Hussley. However, his grandchildren turn out to be a bunch of terror who address him as 'junglee bail'. They even drive away a home tutor by cooking a devious plan.

Meanwhile, Kapoor's younger son Aakash (Meezaan) is set to get hitched to the daughter of his father's friend Bajaj (Manoj Joshi). It's a picture-perfect world for the Kapoors when out of the blue, a young lady Vaani (Pranitha Subhash) lands up at their doorstep with a baby in her arms. She claims that Aakash is her daughter Gehna's father.

Initially, Aakash denies Vaani's allegations but when all the evidence suggest otherwise, the Kapoors are left with no other option but to give shelter to the mother-daughter duo in their house. Soon, their family friend and Akash's work colleague Anjali (Shilpa Shetty) also joins in this 'hungama'.

However, Anjali's suspicious lawyer-husband Radhe (Paresh Rawal) overhears one of her conversations with the Kapoors and assumes that his wife and Aakash are having an affair. What follows next is a series of misunderstandings that barely tickle your funny bone.

Direction

Priyadarshan borrows elements from his 1994 Mohanlal-starrer Minnaram and tries to present it in a Bollywood-style. However, it's his outdated treatment to the plot which makes it a boring affair. Be prepared to be highly disappointed if you have binge-watched his previous comedies like Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul, Malamaal Weekly and others. Yunus Sajawal's screenplay is a mess right from the word 'go'. Anukalp Goswami and Manisha Korde's dialogues appear crude in a few places. Not just the comedy part, Hungama 2 barely tugs at your heartstrings even in the emotional scenes. To sum it up, this ensemble comedy looks stuck in time.

Performances

Paresh Rawal is undoubtedly a master when it comes to making you go 'haha' with his terrific comic timing. Unfortunately in Hungama 2, he is saddled with a character which simply comes across as obnoxious and makes you cringe at a few places. The much-hyped comeback of Shilpa Shetty on screen after 14 years hardly gives you any reason to cheer. Barring the revamped version of 'Chura Ke Dil Mera' song where the diva proves that she's still got the moves, Priyadarshan doesn't allow her to hold the reins of the narrative.

Meezaan still has a long way to go when it comes to being a performer. His co-star Pranitha Subhash is promising at places, but is let down by some poor writing. In a film suffering from flimsy writing, it's Ashutosh Rana, Rajpal Yadav and Tiku Talsania who save the day with some funny gags. Johny Lever barely gets a chance to showcase his funny side. Akshaye Khanna's cameo only made me wish to revisit Hungama for some genuine funny moments.

Technical Aspects

Priyadarshan mounts Hungama 2 on a bigger scale as compared to its earlier counterpart. But then, all that glitters is not gold. NK Ekambaram's camera work is in sync with the theme. Minus a good number of hilarious gags, Hungama 2 makes for a tedious watch. Editor MS Aiyyappan Nair needed to be a little hawk-eyed in knocking off some unnecessary sequences.

Music

While the visuals of 'Chura Ke Dil Mera' redux lits up the screen; thanks to Shilpa Shetty's oomph, the reworked lyrics are more noise than fun. The rest of the songs have nothing intriguing to offer.

Verdict

In Hungama 2, Priyadarshan who is known to make you go rolling over the floor laughing with his climatic mayhems, settles for a creaky ride despite a bunch of seasoned actors boarding it. In a nutshell, this one barely does anything to 'steal your hearts.'