Dedh Ishqiya - the movie with not one but two femme fatale. Without giving the plot away, suffice to say that if you don't compare it with the first part and allow the movie to stand on its own, it stands quite well, populated as it is by strong characters and wonderful lines including some really wonderful poetry. The subtitles help a lot, BTW, though I am pretty sure that 'snafu' is not what chutiyapa means. The movie is fun throughout and though parts of it are extremely predictable and cartoonish (Vijay Raaz and Manoj Pahwa taking their cartoonish roles to the stratosphere), the treatment ensures that there is never a dull moment and there's always an undercurrent of tension laced with humour. No matter how difficult the situation is, we know that nothing truly bad will happen to our lovable thieves or their paramours even when they are outnumbered and out-gunned in a Mexican standoff. It was good to see Madhuri in a leading role after a long time - her casting was bang on, and even Huma in the role of the fiery Muniya who believes that love and sex are two completely different and unrelated things (really? I thought it was only guys who thought that! ), while at the same time knocking boots with both Arshad and Madhuri (in a scene that was a tribute to Ismat Chugtai's Lihaaf), also pretty much chewed up the scenery whenever she was on screen. (On a separate note, while there is no doubting her beauty and acting chops, she does have a rather hefty presence, our girl Huma, and if this was Hollywood I would have bet that some canny filmmaker would have made a female Grudge Match starring her and Sonakshi). There's not much to say about Arshad and Naseeruddin - they own their respective characters now, and Naseer has set such high standards for himself that you don't really find his exceptional performances exceptional anymore. It's just what we are used to. All in all two and a half hours of good entertainment provided you don't go in with great expectations, do like Urdu poetry and don't compare this movie to the first part.
Review of Dedh Ishqiya
