Tired of YouTube’s unfriendly algorithms (as far as movies are concerned) and misleading clickbait titles, I decided to get Amazon Prime Video. So from now on I’ll be alternately reviewing movies/series on Netflix and Prime.

 As soon as I got Prime, my first instinct was to watch the hyper-famous “Pushpa: The Rise: Part 1” or the trending “Gehraiyaan”. Still, I decided not to as each has been discussed endlessly on social media and saying anything more about them would be a waste of time and space.

So I took on a movie I never knew existed before this week: “Bunty Aur Babli 2”. A sequel to “Bunty Aur Babli” (2005), this film had somehow eluded my watchful eyes. As a fan of the original installment, I decided to give it a go.

BB2 takes place around 16 years after the original duo of Bunty aka Rakesh Trivedi (Saif Ali Khan) and Babli aka Vimmi Saluja Trivedi (Rani Mukerji) retire from their life as cons and transition into their new quiet and obscure life as working-class folks. But when a new generation of con artists—Kunal Singh (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and Sonia Rawat (Sharvari Wagh)—start swindling people all over using the “Bunty Aur Babli” identity, the original duo are pulled into investigation by Inspector Jatayu Singh (Pankaj Tripathi), who is adamant on catching the thieves.

As it is, Rakesh and Vimmi are unhappy with their ‘brand’ being brought back to business by some random youngsters doing ‘petty crimes’. So it is their hurt egos and police pressure that get them involved in the cat-and-mouse game with Bunty Aur Babli 2.0.

In the film’s first edition, we saw two ambitious individuals from small towns fight the world to realize their dreams and then transform into swindlers because of the conditions around them. In the new edition, the duo of Bunty and Babli are a bit different. They are educated youth with startup dreams and equipped with technology and the knowledge of the law. In short, they are the modern, upgraded versions of the old Bunty and Babli. But does an upgrade always improve on the original? It’s for the audience to decide.

As for finding out who is the winner in this battle of ‘old v new’, the audience is in for a cinematic experience that blows more cold than hot. Personally, my first letdown was the casting of Bunty. I love Saif Ali Khan as an actor but having him replace Abhishek Bachchan from the original Bunty Aur Babli seems a huge mistake that has almost ruined the film.

As talented and versatile he is, Khan fails to match the character of Bunty, originally personified by Bachchan. While Bachchan was at his natural best, Khan does not fit in his role and is evidently trying to overcompensate. As his opposite, Rani Mukerji seems aware of Khan’s weaknesses and tries to mask them, but she too ends up overcompensating for most parts and looks out of sync. The relative newcomers in Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sonia Rawat also seem lost for guidance.

But when a consistently well-performing actor like Pankaj Tripathi does not impress, the film’s writing and direction must come into scrutiny. Debutante writer/director Varun V. Sharma seems to be a culprit here as he tries to emulate the original film’s success without modifying it to suit the current audience.

The storytelling and stereotyping from 16 years ago do not work in the present context: with its more evolved society and technology. Now, the audience has watched plenty of heists movies not to be easily fooled. Most of the plot’s segments are unconvincing, as the movie appears more like a failed slapstick than an intelligent crime comedy.

Music is underwhelming too. Although immensely talented, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music in BB2 is unnoticeable. While the original edition gave us the iconic “Kajra Re,” there’s nothing comparable to remember in BB2’s soundtracks.

Who should watch it?

Someone who’s not watched the original Bunty Aur Babli movie (also available on Prime Video) might enjoy BB2 because there would be no comparisons, and you’d also not miss Amitabh Bachchan’s distinguished presence.

Rating: 2 stars

Genre: Crime comedy

Run time: 2hr 18mins

Actors: Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Sharvari Wagh, Siddhant Chaturvedi