Dedh Ishqiya is the sequel of Abhishek Choubey’s Ishqiya , which was a Box office hit and critically acclaimed movie of 2010. Co-written by Vishal Bhardwaj , this movie is a treat to watch and beats its prequel in all respects. This Choubey-Bhardwaj duo is among the very few in industry who does a black humor with this elegance and confidence. Dialogues, also written by Bhardwaj, are witty and sardonic while the story is intelligent and twisted.
Stars: Naseeruddin Shah as Khaalu ; Arshad Warsi as Babaan ; Madhuri Dixit as Begum para; Huma Qureshi as Begum’s companion Munniya and Vijay Raaz as Jaan .
Story: It starts after an indefinite amount of time from the where the Ishqiya ended. As usual Khaalu and Babaan are trying to con their way through life and a heist goes wrong. It is when they need to run for their life from their former boss and in the process reach the town of insanely rich Begum Para, who is conducting a contest for her hand through shayaris and target shooting. Jaan Md, MLA makes an entry in the contest and is in love with Begum Para. As the story unfolds , you will witness confusion , twists and turns .It is an ironical portrayal of greed, deceit & stupidity .
What works :
Superb chemistry and dialogue delivery of Khaalu and Babaan. They fight with,cheat & lie to, each other but in the end are the best buds.
Vijay Raaz portrays a villain who is in love and in my personal opinion out does everyone who shares screen time with him. He is just too good.
Huma Qureshi is a treat to watch and appears to be in control throughout the movie. Her portral of Muniya -the butt kicker woman is just fantastic and so is her chemistry with Arshad Warsi.
Strong storyline and character development by Choubey-Bhardwaj . There are more than one twists which keep the audience on their toes
Comic timing and scenes where bill boards show “Bhayankar chilled beer” and BAP named station are hilarious and scattered all over these 2-1/2 hours .
What doesn’t work :
Vishal Bhardwaj’s music is good but unlike his earlier flicks this one lacks the one hit song.
Too much of Shayari and urdu; an average cinema goer is in capable of digesting this much of Ghalib and Lihaaf.
No chemistry between Khaalu and Begum Para. They just don’t look like made for each other which is the backbone of this movie.
Final words:
It doesn’t matter whether you are a fan of dark comedy , Shayaris and great acting or you just want to have fun , this movie is for you . It is a must watch and probably the best satirical thriller Bollywood has ever produced. Critics love it and junta does it too ,this happens only in a blue moon, so it would be foolish to miss this adventure of Khaalu and Babaan .
Rating : ****1/2 out of 5