Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 16th October, 2015
Time : 136 minutes
Director, Writer : Luv Ranjan; Co-Writers : Rahul Mody, Tarun Jain; Music : Various;
Starring : Kartik Aaryan, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Nushrat Bharucha, Sonnalli Seygall, Ishita Raj, Manvir Singh, Rumana Molla, Sharat Saxena

Disclaimer : I haven’t seen Part 1, just the video clip of the famous anti-women speech from the film (you can see it here)



Which guy hasn’t suffered at the hands of women? Danced to her whims, coped with her ever-changing mind and struggled in the never-ending battle to win her over and please her ? This, surprisingly good, movie narrates the story of three pairs and some immensely relatable situations…and does it without ever crossing over that fine line…

Kartik, Sunny and Omkar are great friends and room-mates. Each doing well, in their respective jobs, Omkar probably the best of all, and comfortable enough with each other to constantly take each others trip when the occasion demands (or sometime doesn’t even do so). Then they all strike jackpot, in the form of three gorgeous women, at around the same time. Kartik finds Nushrat (cute, bouncy), Sunny (the least predatory, most seedha of the three) finds the svelte Sonnalli (tall, lissome) and Omkar strikes Gold in the gym with Ishita (a gorgeous figure and she knows what to do with it).

Soon, though, and in no particular order, the following situations strike their relationship

An excessive preference for pink, dresses and selfies

Arguments about money – one woman always wants to pay for her half. Or does she ?

The dreaded debate about Facebook status, and then worse, a demand to know her mates password…

The three women not really getting along – sometimes making nasty remarks about the others

One woman is too scared to tell her dad about her relationship, always waiting for the right time, despite knowing the parents are ‘looking’

The entry of a woman’s best friend, a guy (Manvir Singh), who seems uncomfortably close to her

A woman can’t fathom the hisaab between the three mates. But, despite several appeal to not go there, wants to.

One woman listens too much to the advice of her two girl-friends

The cops get called by zealous, protective dad

The way a guy is used for odd jobs, pick up and drops by her and her family
A debate about the guy’s future plans, dreams – his desire to leave his job and set up a website

The refreshing part of the film was the non-judgmental way the women are shown to be very comfortable in their own skins, happy to drink, unabashedly wearing clothes of their choice, having no qualms about pre-marital sex (or if they do, that is not an issue). The guys are also reasonably straight-forward, neither behaving like a macho, khap panchayat or are just stringing the woman along for sex. Everything plays out quite normally, as you’d expect in real life, and is still so funny when presented the way it is. And, thankfully, the film-makers stick to their storyline and don’t clog it with back-stories or too many characters, sub-plots.

I was quite impressed with Omkar from a looks, acting skills perspective. Sunny was also quite good, as were Ishita, Sonnalli. Kartik was a little bit of a weak link – he looks a little sleazy, the chikna next door – and his expressions don’t always hit the right notes. The speech this time wasn’t as funny as the previous one and also didn’t totally relate to the situations in the film. But I loved the way the film ended – a good, gently sarcastic depiction of our men.

With each of the situations shown, you’re going to recall your own predicaments or those of someone you’ve known. The war of the sexes can be quite hilarious to observe. Unless you’re an involved party. And in this war, there really never is a victor…