Judwaa 2 Review: Varun can't do a Salman

Judwaa 2’s balloon of recycled gas soon goes phus and what’s left is tedious buffoonery of the brainless, for the brainless and by the brainless, sighs Sukanya Verma.

Judwaa 2
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Taapsee Pannu
Director: David Dhawan
Rating: 2/5
StoryLine : Prem and Raja are twin brothers who are seperated at birth but are uniquely connected to eachother via their reflexes. They reunite as adults and set out to take down the underground smuggling world.

Watching Judwaa 2 is like taking a Salman Khan appreciation class. His presence looms large over every single frame of the remake -- sometimes in anticipation of catching a lucky glimpse -- a hankering that only grows as you witness Varun Dhawan’s dedicated impersonation of the star.   

As nostalgic that sounds, it’s awfully hindering too.

Everything that unfolds before our eyes is not only predictable but also lacks personality. 

Twenty years ago, when David Dhawan directed Salman in their first film together, the actor was looking his snazziest and his double delivery of cocky and chicken (Raja and Prem) wasn’t touched by the expectations of mega stardom.

A good deal of his image is built on a doing-my-own-thing flakiness that peaked rather nicely in David’s pea-brained potboiler. 

Throw in solid old timers like Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Satish Shah, Tiku Talsania, a sprinkling of Anu Malik’s foot tapping ditties every few minutes and you had a film that rejoiced in its pedestrian wit and hand-me-down novelty. 

In comparison -- a response Judwaa 2 pretty much screams for -- David’s reboot is stale and sluggishly loosens its bags of tricks.

Varun does the best he can. But it is like the orange jeans he wears, resembling Salman’s in Judwaa. Only this one is ripped in places. 

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: (1.5/5) 
Music: (2/5) 
Acting:(2/5) 

Final Verdict: Light comedy that most of you would enjoy (2/5)