Comedy drama ‘Dream Girl 2’ is a namesake sequel to the 2019 film ‘Dream Girl’, both directed by Raaj Shaandilyaa. Most of the cast remains the same except the leading lady is Ananya Panday instead of Nushrratt Bharuccha. Dream Girl 2 does not continue in terms of the story, it simply picks up the traits of Ayushmann Khurrana’s character Karamveer ‘Karam’ Singh aka Pooja.
Karam (Ayushmann Khurrana), a small-town boy from Mathura, plays female characters in plays (drama) as he has an uncanny ability of delivering sensuous female voice and look like one too. Like earlier he is still looking for a decent job, struggling every day to pay his father’s debt, who has borrowed money from almost everyone around.
While on one hand he is jobless, on the other hand, he is deeply in love with Pari (Ananya Panday), whose father (Manoj Joshi), though reluctant, agrees to their relationship but with a caveat. To make ends meet and more so fulfil his to-be father-in-law’s condition, Karam gets himself into his Pooja act again. This time around there are multiple people who get entangled into the make-believe world of Pooja, which creates confusion and wild chaotic situations leading to slapstick comedy of misrepresentations and misunderstandings.
Though one can call it a clean film (in literal sense, per today’s standards), it, at times appears to be objectifying women and leaves bad taste on screen, especially if you are with family. The writing requires forced humour and double entendre to stretch the story to the next stage. With a very strategic cast including Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Manoj Joshi, DG2 also gives hints of watching a Priyadarshan film, though nothing close to it except the confusion and chaos.
Ayushamnn Khurrana, proves that he can get into the skin of any character, but this time around it goes a bit too far. He himself does not look too comfortable in the act, whether it is on screen or in his mind is for him to acknowledge.
Like many a Hindi films, here too, the leading lady Ananya Panday is just a reason and the means in the story to create a plot. Ananya looks pretty, that’s about it, she does not get enough opportunity to showcase her acting prowess.
Dream Girl 2 boasts senior actors like Paresh Rawal, Annu Kapoor, Asrani, Manoj Joshi, Seema Pahwa, but the story does little to justify their presence. As for them, being good actors they sleep walk into the acts as instructed by the helmer. Paresh Rawal seems miscast as Abu Saleem, known for delivering punches in scenes, he does not get a chance to do that. Asrani remains in his four wheeler (wheel chair) in his couple of shots / scenes.
Annu Kapoor makes his presence felt as Ayushmann’s father, ditto for Manoj Joshi. However, it is Vijay Raaz and Seema Pahwa who get opportunity to perform some whacky scenes in equally whacky situations and getups.
Manjot Singh as Smiley Dhillon, Karam’s friend looks confident in the setup, gets limited scope to perform but fits the character and delivers effortlessly.
Actor and casting director Abhishek Banerjee plays Shahrukh Saleem, yet another reason to bring the twist in the tale. He too passes the muster.
All in all, we have been seeing too much of male actors getting into the female getups on TV shows that the humour gets boring beyond a point and does not justify the time, money and effort spent on it. In ‘Vicky Donor’ or ‘Dream Girl’ (2019) Ayushmann was not required to get into the literal act to bring the house down or communicate the story unlike ‘Dream Girl 2’ where Khurrana looks uncomfortable and out of place while trying hard to pull off the act.
Movie: Dream Girl 2
Directed by: Raaj Shaandilyaa
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Ananya Panday, Annu Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Manoj Joshi, Seema Pahwa, Manjot Singh, Abhishek Bannerjee, Ranjan Raj
Duration: 1 hour 13 mins