(Note : The review includes spoilers revealing its climax)
The talented team of Tigmanshu Dhulia and Irrfan Khan has missed only once in the past with CHARAS, which was in fact a decent engrossing watch released in 2004. Apart from that the team is known for its worth watching gems such as HAASIL (2003) and PAAN SINGH TOMAR (2010) which were also duly awarded with their deserving honors. So after the fine SAHEB BIWI AUR GANGSTER (2011), I was excited enough to watch the talented duo together in its sequel, titled in a routine manner as SAHEB BIWI AUR GANGSTER RETURNS.
But sadly the film turned out to be quite less impressive than expected with few great sequences in its first half and many unimpressive ones in the later leading towards a lackluster climax. To begin with the most questionable addition in the film, the title itself is not justified well since there is no gangster in the movie as such. The word GANGSTER has been forcibly imposed upon Irrfan Khan, who actually is from a local reputed family eager to take his revenge from the SAHEB. Continuing the story further (like a true sequel) we have the differently able SAHEB full of that old, hollow, seen before proud of his lost dynasty or power and the BIWI who is still the same man-eater lady, enjoying her new political status in a drunkard state. The narration works majorly in the first half, as the viewer is already prepared to see all the repeated characters in the film with their amusing mannerisms and then gets enough to keep him involved and entertained together till the interval.
SBAGR begins with 3 brilliant sequences introducing the SAHIB, BIWI and GANGSTER played well by Jimmy, Mahie and Irrfan together. However this time the film doesn’t entirely focuses upon the BIWI alone since we have another lady in the house too enacted by Soha Ali Khan. Moreover the sequel here is actually focused upon the men for a change, which might disappoint a few who wish to see some more skin-show taking a clue from its prequel. The interesting clashes within the characters begin once the intro part is over, followed by few enjoyable sequences like the one where Irrfan is interviewing a Politician watching porn on his laptop in the office itself. As a known feature of a Tigmanshu Dhulia project, all the impressive scenes are well supported by many brilliantly written lines like,
"Na Ji Main Din Mein Nahin Peeta."........."Tum Logon Ke Kaaran Hi Raat Badnaam Hai".
“Kaam Ki Baat Ke Alaava Koi Baat Hai To Karo!"
“Hamein Mard Hi Kyon Milte Hain Hamesha, Shaayar Kyon Nahin Milte…………!”
In short, it all progresses at a fine pace till the intermission as expected from the director and his talented cast. But unfortunately the same cannot be said about the film in its second half. The pace drops and the narration struggles to deliver the shocking twists due to many unwanted clichéd scenes like Jimmy standing up from his wheel chair, the feeble track of royal families having a nexus with the politicians and their locking up together in a room for few days. Further a mediocre item song surely puts you into a doubtful thinking mode as it is certainly not what Tigmanshu is known for in the industry as a path breaking director.
Also I was really not convinced at all with its ineffective and debatable climax wherein Irrfan commits suicide despite of being the owner of so powerful or confident character and Jimmy gets caught by the police so easily despite of being highly influential in politics and underworld, a person who can also get one framed in a crime out of the country. The writing reduces the film to an average product in its final hour wherein it loses a substantial ground in terms of entertainment offered to the common man. The usual amusing shocks in the script of a Dhulia film are missing and the film once again ends on an open note making way for its another forced sequel in the near future.
In visual term, SBAGR literally transports you into that regional ambience of Raja Sahebs and their personal constituencies of the gone era superbly. The framework capturing all the grey characters in their various acts is simply outstanding and the background score compliments the look and feel of the film quite adequately. On the other hand, its soundtrack is strictly below average which clearly indicates that a Tigmanshu Dhulia film actually does not require any full length songs at all posing as hindrances. If required the tracks can easily be incorporated in the background as the two versions of “Jugni” used in its opening and ending titles. Having said that, here regrettably even a Piyush Mishra song seems to be a poor version of a Sukhwinder or a RGV film’s track running in the background.
In the performances department you are bound to find some explosives in a Dhulia film always without any exception. So following the set rule, the film has a terrific act by Irrfan Khan who had a tailor made role perfectly matching his famous image on the screen. As a surprise Jimmy supports him well with a towering performance and it really feels good to appreciate him after a long gap (post many acts full of arrogance and attitude). Mahie takes it on right from where she left in the first part and is sure going to get many more fans on her side after this fabulous sensuous, drunkard act of a clever woman. Joining the trio, Soha too proves her caliber boldly by making her presence felt in the scenes crowded by a powerful cast.
Raj Babbar impresses and Parvesh Rana (Big Boss fame) makes a confident debut as the newly appointed Inspector in the supporting cast. Though I felt his role didn’t have any basic requirement, still the boy makes the best use of the opportunity given impressively. Posing as Jimmy’s right hand, Deepraj Rana says a lot with his eyes only whereas both Anjana Sukhani and Mugdha Godse (as the Item Girls) remain wasted. Complimenting the talented ensemble, Rajeev Gupta as the politician rightly provides the much needs comical relief in his few sequences which can easily be called the highlight of the film undoubtedly.
Concluding the review, SAHEB BIWI AUR GANGSTER RETURNS is indeed a sequel in real term which takes the story further, yet you can enjoy it even if you haven’t seen its first part released in 2011. It has an engrossing, intense first half and an average second resulting in more or less the same impact as generated by its prequel. So I find myself unable to rate it among the greatest works of the supreme storyteller. May be, because I was expecting a lot more from him in this sequel, keeping aside all the predictable factors in the subject. Still it indeed can be rated as an enjoyable watch just for its characters and performances.
Rating : 3 / 5 (Including 0.5 only for that particular sequence of a politician with his laptop)
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