Bunty Aur Babli 2 review: We wish Abhishek Bachchan and the quirk of the original wasn't missing

It was back in 2005 that Bunty Aur Babli had released. As a teenager, I found the entire film to be quite fascinating. Two not so simple simpletons discover the hidden talent that they have, of carrying out some mind-blowing cons, and using it to their benefit- to fulfil their dreams and also help the needy in the process. Sixteen years later, when I saw the trailer of the sequel, I had my own apprehensions, mainly because of the fact that OG Bunty Abhishek Bachchan was missing. But did it affect the film? Well, it did in some parts, and in some parts, it did not matter.It did not matter.

However, as one who had been so fascinated with the original, the fact that the original Rakesh Trivedi was missing did bother me quite a bit- from the very start where Saif Ali Khan 's face was morphed in the throwback pictures. It starts directly from a con, pulled off by none other than the Bunty and Babli 2.0- Kunal (played by Siddhant Chaturvedi ) and Sonia (played by the debutant Sharvari Wagh). The two engineering students, who are unemployed even after graduation take resort to con others so that they can fund their dream- of beginning a startup. However, they decide to use the brand name created by Rakesh and Vimmi. So now, they have to catch these cons, to save themselves and their brand. So this time the fight isn't between police and Bunty Babli, but Bunty Babli and Bunty Babli 2.0

What's best about this sequel is undoubtedly Rani Mukerji . She returns as the over-the-top Vimmi. Though, this time she has developed an accent that she didn't have in the first part at all! Sudden development is okay, since she consistently maintains this accent throughout the film. She is the USP and gives us moments of genuine laughter. It was however Saif Ali Khan who could not match the energy and the funk that Abhishek had. He does repeat the 'yeh world hai na world, yaha do tareeke ke log hote hai' dialogue, but it misses the depth that the original had. He does give his best, but it is the bar that AB jr. had set that has become difficult to reach. And Saif suffers from that, despite all his earnestness. In fact, the entire chemistry between these two was missing!

Siddhant and Sharvari are pretty good. The two look great as the new Bunty and Babli. Siddhant is easy breezy as Bunty 2.0. He gets into the skin of the character with ease. Sharvari, who has worked in a web series before, looked picture perfect in her debut. She is talented.

It was Pankaj Tripathi who added some much-needed quirk, other than Rani of course. It was also because of the fact that the character was tailor made for him. It suited him perfectly and the actor used it to his strength.

The problems in this film are many to ignore. From a slow tempo in the first half, to fun characters being absent throughout the film, it missed on the good things that the original had. The biggest thing missing was the humane touch. We have mentions of why the new Bunty and Babli became who they are, but at times, you might also feel a disconnect with them.

One of the areas that slacked is the direction. Varun Sharma wrote and directed the film, and yes maybe it did not have the magic that Aditya Chopra 's writing had. Yeah, there had been nice and good political jokes in the first part, but the flavour of the cons was somewhat marred.

This is not a worthy sequel. Yes, you can watch it once, but that will be all.