Saheb Biwi aur Gangster returns

The sequels of successful films have become common these days and this trend is now not only restricted to big films but is getting on to small budget and relatively small star cast films too. Not surprisingly then, Tigmanshu Dhulia, who had gotten both critical claim and moderate commercial success with an intriguing thriller in Saheb Biwi aur Gangster, also tries to take that story forward. His last directorial venture Pan Singh Tomar was also acclaimed by one and all and so coming right after that, the expectations from this film are really high.

The film starts from where it had ended in the first part. Saheb (Jimmy Shergill) is now paralyzed and is on a wheelchair though his mind is still cunning and his attitude is still of a Raja. Biwi (Mahie Gill) is now a ruling MLA but has become a recluse and a habitual drunk all the time. The love is lost between the two and they are living on with their frustrated lives. Thus enters the Gangster (Irrfan) in their lives who has two way agenda, to save his love interest (Soha Ali Khan) from getting forcefully married to Saheb and to take revenge of the loss of his family’s empire and lives. And all this leads to a dirty world of love and deceit, friendship and double crossing and power and politics with all the characters trying to manipulate others.

The first hour of the film is somewhat engaging starting with introduction of the main characters and then moving swiftly to establishing their crooked personalities and their deceptive motives. The characters are all grey here changing colours every minute and that is intriguing to watch.

However, just as when the basic premise of story is set up towards being a gripping thriller, the film starts faltering big time. The screenplay after the first hour has so many gaps and flaws that it becomes incomprehensible. The writing of all the characters other than Saheb is completely inconsistent, erratic and confusing leaving you completely at loss on what’s going on and why. While it tries hard to give depth to each character, none of them is fully convincing. On top of it, there are so many sequences that are disjointed and do not make any sense with the main story; the side tracks of Pravesh Rana or four MLAs trying to divide the State are irrelevant. There is an item number too in second half which is in embarrassingly bad taste. And the climax too is abrupt and with hardly any shock value. The only good things in the film come in the form of some smartly written dialogues; Saheb’s scenes bullying everyone and Irrfan’s comic timing particularly with his interview with a minister in his office with his laptop streaming porn.

In terms of performances, Irrfan is good as always. Jimmy Shergill is superb; he has taken to this role brilliantly. But Mahie Gill is so bad in few scenes that it actually becomes unintentionally funny and Soha Ali Khan just exists in the film. The songs are pain to the ears.

The film has its moments but only far and few and the last one hour is just too difficult to understand. With running duration of two and a half hours, it makes for a tiring and somewhat boring watch. Tigmanshu Dhulia fails to come up with a riveting thriller and a befitting sequel to its first edition. It’s a pity considering the potential that this story could have offered. Cinema Analyst's Take – Below average.