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MUMBAI: Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba, the sequel to Netflix's highly watched 2021 release Haseen Dillruba, sees the return of the same lead pair, Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey, with the addition of Sunny Kaushal and Jimmy Shergill. Jayprad Desai takes over directorial reins from Vinil Mathew while Kanika Dhillon once again pens the script.
Haseen Dillruba, which had released back in 2021 on Netflix, turned out to be one of the most watched Netflix films during lockdown. That being said, its shortcomings were neither lost on film critics nor the common public. It's no wonder then that while Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba emerged as one of the most anticipated sequels upon announcement, everyone also held the opinion it needed to be an improvement over its predecessor. Well, it no donut is, leagues better in fact, but that's not to say it couldn't have paid even more attention to its screenplay, especially in the third act.
The story picks up exactly from where the first film left off, with the cops, this time spearheaded by new entrant Jimmy Shergill, with a vested interest, hot on the trail of Taapsee Pannu and a supposedly deceased Vikrant Massey. To sidetrack the police, the couple hatch a plan, baiting Sunny Kaushal as the unwitting pawn in their scheme. Little to their knowledge though, the latter has his own secrets, sending their plans spiraling out of control.
The best thing about Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba is that the twists fly thick and fast, each being spicier than the last even if half of them would leave you snickering with amazement at how far the makers expect you to suspend disbelief — you gladly do because you know you've strapped in for a tantalizing joyride, which Jayprad Desai and Kanika Dhillon deliver in spades. Wherever the plot goes haywire with loopholes and implausibility, the duo more than make up for it with sheer confidence of us going along for the twists and suspense alone.
It pays rich dividends, too, that both Taapsee and Vikrant aren't only in good form, but also grow with their character graphs from the first part. Jimmy Shergill though towers above them both with yet another blueprint at marvelously underplaying a gritty part. The rest of the cast, too, lend a good hand, and if weren't for Sunny Kaushal either being miscast or just misunderstanding his role, which, unfortunately, is the most layered of the lot, this'd have made a perfectly chosen ensemble cast.
The production values are also on point along with Shweta Venkat Matthew's sharp editing, Jaya Krishna Gummadi's rustic camerawork, and some good music by Amit Trivedi and Amar Mangrulkar to round things off. Weren't it for a pretty far-fetched third act as mentioned before and a quite unbelievable climax, Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba would've been a brilliant modern thriller. As is, it's pretty good.
3.5/5 stars
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