Movie Review: Bheja Fry 2 (Hindi) 131

A low key ‘Bheja Fry’ was a runaway hit in 2007 and a lesser known Vinay Pathak was catapulted to comic stardom. Despite the fact that it was lifted straight from a French film, it had the audience laughing their hearts out. Pathak again dons the role of the stupid-irritating-talkative-singer-taxman Bharat Bhushan in ‘Bheja Fry 2’.

The story begins by introducing Ajit Talwar (Kay Kay Menon), a successful businessman albeit with fishy dealings and an eye for pretty women. Ace taxman MT Shekharan (Suresh Menon) has Talwar in his crosshairs and is all set to nab him. Meanwhile, Bharat Bhushan is on a TV show where the audience loves his antics. Bhushan’s popularity wins him the prize money and a holiday on a cruise-liner.

Events unfold and the plot eventually leads Talwar and Bhusan to a marooned island, shot in Bintan, Indonesia where the lost duo meets a madcap photographer Raghu Burman (Amol Gupte) who loves Bhushan’s singing. Shekharan who’s on a chase adds to the melee. A twist here and there leads to an ending that seems quite pointless.

In the absence of an ‘inspiration’, it appeared as if the filmmakers were lost about how to take it forward. Vinay Pathak becomes Bharat Bhushan, but his humor is predictable. One can find parallels with his role as Manu Gupta in ‘Chalo Dilli’.

Suresh Menon isn’t as effective as Ranveer Shorey was in the first. Kay Kay Menon was as good as Rajat Kapoor was but didn’t have a supporting character like that of Milind Soman’s. Minisha Lamba was only supposed to look pretty.

The first half had the perfect setting: a corrupt and womanizing corporate honcho, a funding hungry channel owner, reality TV, some adultery, a couple of tax sleuths who are best buddies but with opposing attitudes towards work, and all on a cruise liner for a weekend. But, the second half lost itself on the island as did its lead its characters.

Seen stand-alone, it is a sub-standard screenplay which didn’t use good actors like Kay Kay Menon, Vinay Pathak or even Amol Gupte. On whether it justifies the genre it belongs to, ‘Bheja Fry 2’ is quite funny at times, although not as funny as the first one was. Still, the actors manage to hold the plot together despite its flaws.

Nonetheless, it is better than the multitude of senseless Akshay Kumar comedies that only ride on stars and item numbers. To sum up, Bheja Fry 2 isn’t well cooked, but it won’t hurt your tummy! But a wee bit of finesse could’ve made it much better.

Rating 4/10: Had the potential, but totally loses the plot