Dream Girl 2 Review: Tring Tring ! Ayushmann Khurrana’s Pooja is worth a dial

When Ayushmann Khurrana’s 'Dream Girl' released in 2019, it was a follow up to the actors' list of ‘hatke’ films that he consciously chose to do. Wanting to break from the ‘Vicky Donor’ mould, Ayushmann decided that playing a sexy female phone-sex operator named Pooja would expand his quirky cinematic universe. The result was a success. The film went on to make money and Ayushmann’s Pooja act received a lot of love and acceptance.

Four years later, the film becomes a franchise with a follow up titled 'Dream Girl 2', where the voice of Pooja now appears as a woman dressed in backless blouses and sexy sarees. This time around, Ayushmann’s Pooja is not restricted to close-up shots of her lips but gets a full cross dressing treatment with a make-over that seems to have got a lot of help from VFX.

Director Raaj Shaandilyaa has put together an ensemble that will remind you of the early 2000 movies. Names like Rajpal Yadav, Paresh Rawal, Asrani, Vijay Raaz, Annu Kapoor show up on screen at regular intervals. The writing is also a mish-mash of gags and jokes that were better left back to that era and won’t find much appeal to the current audience. Having said that, 'Dream Girl 2' is not completely a lost cause.

The film’s biggest USP is its poster boy or rather girl - Pooja, played by Ayushmann. The challenge for the actor is not in just recreating Pooja but rather saving her from becoming a loud caricature or an obnoxious stand-up act. Given his mettle to make even the shoddiest of scripts somewhat palatable, Ayushmann goes in for the kill as Pooja. Everything from his voice to his walk to the flutter of his eyelids is impeccable. Equally impressive is his lucid switch from Pooja to Karam. This time the plot of the film revolves around Karam and his girlfriend, played by Ananya Panday, dealing with a financial situation that prevents them from getting married. As a solution to the problem, Karam decides to moonlight as Pooja and marry the son of a wealthy businessman (Paresh Rawal). But because Dream Girl as a premise can’t be so linear, the story has many subplots and characters that cross paths in some hilarious ways.

Where 'Dream Girl 2' becomes a bit of a nightmare is in its second half, where the pace gets annoyingly sluggish and the jokes start falling flat faster than flies at a laddoo stall. The climax is a colossal disappointment and the way it pans out feels forced and awkward. Pooja’s existence and the reason she seems likeable has a context, so when that premise starts unravelling, the film begins to go astray. If it wasn’t for the support of the senior ensemble cast like Seema Pahwa, Paresh Rawal, Annu Kapoor and others, Dream Girl 2 would have been a struggle.

On the whole, the overall experience of watching Pooja in her true element getting caught up in some crazy situations is quite fun. The jokes and gags (the Gadar 2 and BTS reference) are witty and some are downright funny. Ayushmann is why you will go to watch the film in the first place and he doesn’t disappoint. Watch Dream Girl 2 cause it’s silly and funny and a chuckle and some good laughter in a theatre never hurt anyone , right ?