Review: 'Heropanti 2' is everything you expected from it - but not in a good way

Heropanti 2

Really, you want to give these films a chance. You really do. Inspite of any pre-conceived notions we have about anything, while going into a film, it is always with an open mind and the hope of being pleasantly surprised. But then films like Heropanti 2 happen and you're disappointed once again questioning everything.

Amidst the raging debate of South films taking over Bollywood and the latter trying to defend with examples, films like Heropanti 2 don't help the cause.

The Story

In an attempt to make things bigger and better, Heropanti 2 becomes the saga about an undercover hacker Babloo/RJ (Tiger Shroff) who is involved in a back-and-forth with the bad guy, Laila (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a cyber-crime specialist and a magician with quirks. What ensues is unwanted, irrelevant and childish twists and turns in an ode to make the film entertaining. Producer of the film Sajid Nadiadwala is the man who has envisioned the story and while it is applaudable for the ambition, the execution is dismal.

The Screenplay

Rajat Arora, a man who is immortal for giving us the scintillating Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai and the iconic dialogues has lost the plot ever since and Heropanti 2 is another example of the same. Trying to cash in on 'desh bhakti' or 'maa ka pyaar' tropes, Arora continues to churn the old wagon in changing times which is not entertaining at all.

The Direction

It is an unfortunate image director and former choreographer Ahmed Khan is living with now. Not offering anything new, Khan's direction is just a rehash of his earlier films where it seems like Baaghi 2 meets Fool N Final in some manner. Not that Mr. Khan seems to be caring about it as long as these films make big money thus giving him more and more films to direct ahead.

The Production

One aspect that is definitely the highlight in the best possible way is the production of Heropanti 2. The scale is obviously and visibly bigger and better for the masses. The locales are spread across multiple countries and even in a one-room scene, the production value seems grand. Kudos to the producers for investing in big money with full faith.

The Dialogues

If you thought cringe fest is over when you see some reels on Instagram, Heropanti 2 dialogues will prove you wrong and continue the fest. Juvenile attempts at humor with lines like 'MC BC (main chali bye cutie)', 'muje light aur limelight dono pasand nahi', 'architect ne pura architecture bigad diya' and what not are so jarring that you do laugh - but at the attempt that the dialogue writer has taken and not on the actual line itself. It also seems that a literal last minute change was made in order to incorporate the viral reel of 'choti bachi ho kya?' into the film. As in one scene, Shroff mouths it but you can clearly see is not what he actually said during the shoot.

The biggest and most insulting flaw of Heropanti 2 has to be the dubbing. Either Nawazuddin Siddiqui was given an entirely new script when he was dubbing or the makers just didn't care to polish the product and letting it be. There is barely any scene where the dubbing issue isn't right-in-your-face. What Nawazuddin's character is enacting and saying visually is entirely different from the audio dialogue. This is extremely insulting to the viewer where the makers didn't seem to care and rectify it before release.

The Music & BGM

If you thought the pity party was over, make way for this one. The maestro that is A.R. Rahman comes in to give music to this film and if there was one soundtrack that definitely doesn't belong to his legacy, it has to be that of Heropanti 2. Not one track is memorable in any manner and the songs placement in the film is even more infuriating. Apart from the original whistle tune of Heropanti - neither the tracks, nor the BGM is even remotely memorable. And talk about legacy being tainted, even the original whistle baja song is so badly remixed that the only saving grace of it is the appearance of Kriti Sanon.

The Cinematography

Another department that Heropanti 2 deserves credit for is the cinematography. There are some gorgeous scenes visually that make up for the mediocrity going on in the scene. Especially the action scene in the parking lot has brilliant lights and the cinematographer has been able to capture it in the best way possible. Even the scenes in different setting like that in China and the climax has some fine capturing that atleast make the visual aspect appealing.

The Action

You know Shroff is gonna fly and kick asses everywhere but considering how he has been doing that forever now, I have to give kudos to the action team for choreographing some fine and novel action scenes. The one in the beginning involving Tiger just defending and not attacking and a mere 5 second combat scene with a Shaolin guy is better than the entire film put together.

The Acting

First talking about the positives, it seems the backlash of using a female lead just for the sake of it has worked. Even though Tara Sutaria's character is annoying and over-the-top where she plays a self-made but spoilt billionaire; but for a pleasant change, she gets more screen time than ever. This isn't a dig and in fact, I genuinely applaud that part. Sutaria is there in the film from the first scene till the last, which is a slight positive to take considering the history. Apart from that, purely based on the journey Shroff has had from Heropanti to Heropanti 2, one can see that he has visibly improved leaps and bounds. He still falters in the acting department but still the comparison and journey of 8 years has brought some good changes for him.

Even in his bad performances, an acting genius like Nawazuddin Siddiqui can make you like him. As self-aware as he is in real life, his character Laila is caricaturish, exasperating and even stupid; but still the fact that Siddiqui is having fun with the role and getting paid good money for it is enough to justify these choices.

The Verdict

Heropanti 2 is an old wine served in a new but unattractive bottle that becomes a tiresome watch and probably the ardent Tiger Shroff fans might have a blast watching their favourite on-screen doing what he does best.

Rating - ** (2/5)