It’s a shame because Aziz is clearly the sort of filmmaker who delights in small absurdities. The last forty minutes - which feature a concert for no apparent reason but to allow Piyush Mishra to dress as Batman - are plain exhausting. There is some nonsense about a villain motivated by a China-Pakistan government contract, and none of it adds up, which would be acceptable if the film was funny, and if it didn’t devolve into a shouty mess at the end. This is the kind of movie where joining the dots is futile. Sonakshi Sinha, Jassie Gill, Jimmy Shergill and Piyush Mishra in a still from Happy Phir Bhaag Jayegi.
The film’s hero is a mild-mannered fellow who sings Sunny Deol songs at open mic events, and while the character is pleasant, he is played by pop-star Jassi Gill, a performer so unremarkable I have already forgotten him. Sinha looks confused from the start, walking out of an airport open-mouthed and staying that way till the credits drop, occasionally taking the time to harrumph.
Chang, a well-heeled Chinese gangster who speaks in fluent Hindi, has his hands full with her and his other hostages: Pakistani policeman Usman Afridi, whisked away on the day of his retirement, and our friend Bagga who was kidnapped - as he never tires of reminding anyone within earshot - not only on the day of his wedding, but after he had already mounted his shaadi steed. Sinha’s Happy is an academician (a horticulturist, if you will) who has come to China for the first time and been immediately kidnapped, mistaken for the other Happy. This wholesale kidnapping comes courtesy of Chinese gangsters, which is why the wild goose chase is set in Shanghai this time. The plot involves kidnapped girls, kidnapped policemen and kidnapped Punjabi businessmen who like wearing outrageously flamboyant hoodies.
It runs out of steam long before the finish line. The sequel has an even more ridiculous plot, a tedious heroine and - this is the crucial bit - not enough gags. The original was surprisingly fizzy, a film where the plot made little sense and the protagonists were duds, and yet there were giggles to be had. In the new film, Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, the tiresome Sonakshi Sinha plays a different Happy, a girl so given to scowling that her parents clearly got it wrong. The first film starred Diana Penty as runaway bride Happy, trying gratingly hard at being a Parineeti Chopra type, alongside Abhay Deol grappling clumsily with broad comedy.
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