Yaariyan 2 Review: A coming of age story!

YAARIYAN 2

Directors- Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru

Cast- Meezaan Jafri, Pearl V Puri , Yash Daasguptaa and Divya Khosla Kumar and Murali Sharma

Platform of Release- Theatrical

Rating: 

By Jyothi Venkatesh

This one is not a sequel to the super duper hit Yaariyan  but is based on the Malayalam movie Bangalore Days. Yaariyan 2 revolves around Laadli Chhiber (Divya Khosla Kumar), Shikhar Randhawa (Meezaan Jafri), and Bajrang, aka Bajju (Pearl V Puri), three cousins who have compromised on their lives and dreams to fulfil their parents’ expectations (which they cheekily call repaying the nappy-changer’s debt), and relocate to Mumbai.

Laadli finds herself in a loveless marriage to Abhay Singh Katyal (Yash Daasguptaa), while Shikhar is a bike racer from a broken home facing a lifelong racing ban. Bajju is stuck in a corporate job with a demanding boss. Despite these odds, the ‘cousins by blood but friends by choice’ indulge in goofy shenanigans and stand rock solid by each other even when they face their own personal crises.

The biggest minus point of the plot is that the film begins to deviate mid-way through and brings in too many tracks, including loss of loved ones, break-ups, besides of course the three lead protagonists’ relationship through it all. These add to the movie’s length, and the viewer’s attention gets distracted from one track and character to the other.

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As far as the performances are concerned, all I can say is that Divya Khosla Kumar is just about passable, Meezaan Jafri and Pearl V Puri display great camaraderie as cousins and friends, whether in the light and fun moments, or when there are conflicts between them or they have each other’s back.

Yash Daasguptaa plays his part as a moping husband well. Bhagyashree Borse as Shikhar’s love interest, who is passable as a bright but differently-abled girl, holds your interest. Murali Sharma as her father , displays his flair for getting into the skin of the character, however small it may be and walks away with honours.

The highlight as the drawback of the film is that its soundtrack includes far too many hummable numbers from the wedding song, Saure Ghar, and a heartrending Simroon Tera Naam and club banger Peene De, thus disrupting the proceedings whenever there is a momentum.

In order to salvage the film from sagging, and make it engaging right from the first frame till the last, the editor ought to have made it tighter with a slicker narrative. This coming-of-age story of three cousins from Shimla who move to Mumbai and navigate through life, heartbreaks, and adventures that transform them as people, is good in parts but lacks cohesion as a plot.