Review: Bheja Fry 2
Director: Sagar Ballary
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Kay Kay Menon, Minissha Lamba, Amol Gupte, Suresh Menon, Rahul Vohra
The 2007 release of Bheja Fry, which was a scene-to-scene copy of the French movie Le Diner De Cons (The Dinner Game), created quite a buzz in Bollywood. Even though the movie was entirely plagiarized, it still managed to tickle the funny bone of the viewers, and didn’t end up doing too badly at the Box Office either. This was probably the reason the film maker ended up making a sequel to it and some of the people are actually contemplating on watching it. However, unlike its predecessor, Bheja Fry 2 fails to live up to its expectations, and by the time you leave the theatre, you feel that those two hours of your life could definitely have been put to better use.
From the very outset, there is nothing in particular about the movie which appeals to the viewer. The storyline and plot are very ordinary, and the humour fails to be funny, probably because this time they had to come up with an original script. The movie aims to take Bharat Bhushan’s (played by Vinay Pathak) character forward from where the last movie left off. Bhushan wins a game show and wins a free cruise. A series of mishaps ensure that he gets stuck on a barren island with Kay Kay Menon, who was trying to kill him on board the cruise due to an identity crisis. From there on, the story just keeps sinking. None of the characters are explored during the course of the film, which is probably one of the many reasons the film just doesn’t work. The reason Bheja Fry was successful was because of its humour and the comic timings of the lead actors. However, in this sequel, the humour is such that it would make a 2-year-old think twice before laughing.
The camera work in the film is very haphazard and makes the film get on to your nerves, as there are sudden transitions from close-ups to long shots and vice-versa. The sound track of the movie is not great either. The songs which were there in the movie should have been deleted without a second thought.
What makes the film watchable are the performances of the actors. Vinay Pathak is as brilliant as ever as Bhushan, though he tends to go overboard at times. Kay Kay Menon gives a fine performance as always, but it falls below expectations, since his character had so little to do. Probably, the dullest character ever played by Mr. Menon, but still he manages to do well. Minissha Lamba did not have much of a role, apart from being a mere prop, and she nearly does it to perfection. What disappointed me a lot though was Amol Gupte’s performance. As a Bengali photographer stuck in the middle of nowhere, he gives a performance which is pathetic, to say the least. His speeches in Bengali are a shame, but more than the actor, I’d blame the director, because after watching films like Stanley Ka Dabba and Kaminey, we all know the kind of power-packed performances Gupte is capable of delivering. When there are films like I Am being released with 4 different languages coming together in 1 movie, without a single flaw, you’d expect that the director would ensure that the one other language apart from Hindi that he uses in the film sounds authentic. However, just like every other aspect of the film, this lets you down as well.
Bheja Fry 2 does not live expectations. Ranvir Shorey and Rajat Kapoor are sorely missed, as it was clearly their chemistry with Vinay Pathak which had worked wonders in the first movie. Watch the movie if you must only for the performances. It is the only thing which tries and keeps the movie alive.
Cow rating: 2/5
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About the Author: Rajdip Ray
