Fukrey Returns Movie Review: An Insipid Sequel

In 2013, Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Pankaj Tripathi, Manjot Singh and Ali Fazal had teamed up for Fukrey, a caper about four feckless youngsters who tangle with a female don (Richa Chadha) and the film was an unexpected success at the box office, which made us hopeful about the sequel too. But does Fukrey Returns possess the same magic as the prequel? Let’s find out...

The sequel takes off a year after the events of the prequel and ows Hunny, Choocha, Lalli and Zafar leading idyllic lives until Bholi Punjaban (Chadha), comes back from jail looking for some payback. The Fukras and their loyal friend Panditji (Pankaj Tripathi) are picked up and asked to cough up an enormous amount of money to be paid to a corrupt neta, who wants remuneration for getting Bholi released. How this turns their lives upside down yet again, forms the rest of the plot.

The four lead actors have done a decent job, though Sharma somewhat gets on your nerves with his tomfoolery at times. Richa is not as menacing as she was in the prequel, but this only serves to make her more humane. If the film has one gem, it is the one and only Pankaj Tripathi, who is a sheer delight to watch as the genteel Panditji. He cracks you up in every scene and with every dialogue that he utters.

As for the film, I must admit that I liked the prequel more as there was something likeable and endearing about the characters in the prequel, something that is not seen in the sequel. Moreover, the scenes and situations in the prequel were way more funny and the romance quotient was high too with songs like ‘Ambarsariya’. Sadly enough, the sequel has none of the likeable qualities the prequel had and is somewhat crass too- the film starts off with Hunny and Choocha squatting in a field to take a dump right before Hunny is bitten on his ass by a snake...

The music is nothing to write home about, including the remixed ‘Mehbooba’ and I found myself wishing the makers had brought back ‘Ambarsariya’ in the sequel too as and when Pulkit and Priya Anand came together for a scene. However, that along might not have been enough to save the movie, so the point is moot.

In conclusion, Fukrey Returns is the weaker twin when compared to Fukrey so choose wisely...