‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’ review: Too clever by half

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba sees the return of the wicked married couple from Haseen Dillruba (2021). In the first movie, written by Kanika Dhillon and directed by Vinil Mathew, Rani (Taapse Pannu) and Rishu (Vikrant Massey) killed Rani’s lover, pretended that Rishu was the one who had died, and fled the fictitious north Indian town Jwalapur. Rather than moving far away – Kanyakumari, perhaps, or even Kathmandu – the sequel sees the couple hiding out in Agra.

Here, Rani runs a beauty parlour and frequently meets Rishu on the sly, but always in the open. Rishu’s idea of a disguise is a cap. All that was needed for police officer Kishore (Aditya Srivastava) to close his open investigation was a 24-hour tail on Rani.

Instead, Kishore bumbles on, sharing his hopeless mission with Montu (Jimmy Shergill). Self-described as possessing the persistence of a woodpecker, Montu vows to chip away at the couple’s deceit. Muddling matters for all parties is the compounder Abhimanyu, who has fallen for Rani as unerringly as a buzzy movie gets a second outing.

Kanika Dhillon’s screenplay for Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba attempts to channel the spirit of amoral hardboiled noir as well as the pulp fiction of the fictitious writer Dinesh Pandit. Had the cops bought out the entire Dinesh Pandit catalogue to figure out the modus operandi at work, nobody need have bothered.

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is out on Netflix. Despite knowing what the turn of the page will reveal, Dhillon and director Jayprad Desai do jolt on occasion, especially with respect to one of the key players. Desai and cinematographer Vishal Sinha’s subtly distorted lensing navigate the thriller through a thicket of willing blindness to the lack of convincing tension or credible shocks.

A police operation that doesn’t bother to wait for the results of a DNA test? Crocodiles left over from Khoon Bhari Maang? Like Montu, the 136-minute movie is too clever by half. At least the colour-coded frames, sets and costumes complement the plot’s beats.

Even as the Rani-Rishu collusion approaches Dullsville, the interloper Abhimanyu enlivens the scene with his masochistic commitment to Rani. (Rishu too has an admirer in his landlady Poonam – played by Bhumika Dube – who wields her walking stick like a weapon.)

Abhimanyu’s back story has tantalising possibilities that are underplayed so that Rani and Rishu may exchange lovelorn looks. Yet, Abhimanyu’s unblinking ardour carries the day.

Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey inhabit familiar roles, with Massey proving better at mining the material’s dark depths. But even Massey is overshadowed by Sunny Kaushal, who is excellent as Abhimanyu. While Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba yields diminishes returns, Kaushal startles and shines.

Also read:

‘Haseen Dillruba’ review: A straightforward movie about mad love