Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is certainly much more engaging and even enjoyable than the first episode. It carries pulpy humour in the foreground and the background. The characters might be one-toned and their situation repetitive, but they are more likeable and thus you are a little more engaged.

Straight up, I quite enjoyed Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba’s style of recapping Hasseen Dillruba for us. The makers decide what details are not important enough to revisit and you get a big picture idea without losing out on the essence of the story so far. I loved the fact that they skipped the “why”s which were important for that movie but have to be taken as given when you are watching this one.

The writing only slips up later in the film with the back and forth, the double crossings and double-double crossings, and double-double-double crossings. These get tiring. Fortunately though, this starts to get annoying only when the film is wrapping it up and you don’t suffer too bad.
Of course, the performances keep you invested. Even though, they are bland in the sense that the characters catch one tone and hold on to it through the film. But, the trio, Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey and Sunny Kaushal, has their basics so right that they hold you through the film too. Same goes for Aditya Srivastava and Jimmy Shergill, and Preeti Singh.

The crux remains that there is only one point to be made: “how far can you go for someone you love?” The answer we know well from the first film, “very.” The ups and downs that the characters get themselves into to prove it are done well and worth a watch. At leisure though, no rush.

– meeta, a part of the audience