De De Pyaar De 2

That an older gentleman should tumble helplessly into infatuation with a sprightly young woman is hardly the stuff of headlines; it is practically a civic tradition in our cinema. But that a vivacious, bubble-gum-bright twenty-something should lose her heart to a much-married man with two full-grown offspring is an exotic rarity—particularly in the hallowed halls of Hindi films. The former trope has been inspected from every possible angle: by R. Balki with his Big-B-powered reverie Shabd, by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Aks, and even by Basu Chatterjee’s Shaukeen, that unabashed comedy of lecherous seniors on the loose. Yet the idea of a 50-plus man seeking romantic renewal with a partner who isn’t his first, but his wife—round two—remains something our storytellers regard with the suspicion usually reserved for budget overruns.

Ajay Devgn used to throw himself into comedies. I never thought he was a great comic (compare his effortful style to the ease of Akshay Kumar), but he more or less got the job done. But now, as with every other facet of his acting, Devgn’s comedy has lost its edge. In De De Pyaar De 2, he’s a beat behind everyone else, draining the energy in scenes when he should be cranking it up.

साढ़े छह बरस पहले आई ‘दे दे प्यार दे’ में 50 बरस के अधेड़ आशीष को 26 बरस की कमसिन आयशा से प्यार हुआ था मगर बीच में आ गए थे आशीष के बीवी-बच्चे जिनसे वह 18 साल पहले अलग हो गया था। आशीष बेचारा असमंजस में फंस गया था कि पुराने रिश्ते निभाए या नए रिश्ते को थामे। लेकिन अंत में सब सुलझ गया था। क्या वाकई…! पहले आशीष आयशा को अपने परिवार से मिलवाने ले गया था और इस बार आयशा उसे अपने घर लाई है अपने परिवार से मिलवाने। यहां बात-बात पर खुद को ‘प्रगतिशील, पढ़े-लिखे, आधुनिक’ कहलवाने वाले उसके माता-पिता हैं जो आशीष से साल-डेढ़ साल ही बड़े हैं। भाई, भाभी, मासी, कज़िन, नानी, भाभी के माता-पिता वगैरह भी हैं। ऐसे में अपने पिता की उम्र के आशीष को वह कैसे सबसे मिलवाए, कैसे यह बताए कि हम दोनों शादी करने वाले हैं…? लेकिन जैसा कि फिल्मों में होता है, अंत में सब सुलझ जाता है। क्या वाकई…!

In 2019, when De De Pyaar De hit the screens, the unapologetic take on unconventional love worked because of being emotionally honest without being melodramatic. Six years later, director Anshul Sharma returns with a cheeky sequel, in the middle of the wedding season, that is again bold in idea and joyful in spirit. Filled with a heavy dose of family chaos and generational clash, it follows Ashish Mehra (Ajay Devgn), the middle-aged divorcee in love with the much younger Ayesha (Rakul Preet Singh). Their spirited romance faces another litmus test as this time Ayesha takes Ashish home to introduce him to her self-proclaimed progressive Punjabi family.

De De Pyaar De, out in 2019, was a startling first for a mainstream Bollywood film, presenting the idea of a much-older man and a young woman as a perfectly viable romantic option. It isn’t as if Hindi cinema hasn’t toyed with the May-December idea before but not to the extent of getting firmly behind the coupling of a distinctly fifty-plus grey-flecked Ashish Mehra (Ajay Devgn) and a spry 26 year old Ayesha (Rakul Preet Singh), who meet cute in London, fall for each other, and start living together.

I admit I have trust issues with a Luv Ranjan screenplay. When it’s funny, I worry if I’m amused for the right reasons. When it’s dramatic, I get anxious about the gender politics behind the gender politics. When it’s chatty, I look for hints of meninism in the elaborate arguments and expository dialogue. When it’s good-looking, I am distracted by everyone speaking like they’re in a detergent ad. When it’s progressive, I suspect it’s trying to fool us. When it’s regressive, I wonder if it’s aware. One might argue I’m being too paranoid about a harmless genre: the romantic comedy. (I can almost hear the “stop overanalysing, just enjoy” voices). But we live in an age of relentless commentary; storytelling is only a vessel. Every new-age Hindi film, regardless of form, has something to say. Maybe it’s on us to figure out what that is, before choosing to be entertained or disappointed.

एक जवान लड़की अपने से दोगुने उम्र के आदमी को जीवनसाथी बनाने का फैसला करे तो भसड़ मचनी तय है। इसी भसड़ को कॉमेडी, इमोशन और एंटरटेनमेंट के तड़के के साथ परोसती है फिल्म ‘दे दे प्यार दे 2’, जो साल 2019 में आई ‘दे दे प्यार दे’ की सीक्वल है। अजय देवगन, रकुल प्रीत सिंह और आर माधवन स्‍टारर यह फिल्‍म फर्स्ट हाफ में तो हंसाती है, लेकिन इंटरवल के बाद थोड़ी लड़खड़ा जाती है।