Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba movie review: Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey film lacks originality, leaves you unsatisfied

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba movie review: Taapsee Pannu has lost the spunk which fueled the first film, in this one, co starring Vikrant Massey and Sunny Kaushal

Ek haseena thi, ek deewana tha--This iconic song from a now iconic film is used to pretty brilliant effect in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba as it begins. The spectacular fall in coherence which follows however, will become iconic too. I am still reeling from the ludicrous storyline of this film which takes the words ‘artistic liberty’ to a new level. And that is not necessarily always a good thing

We meet Rani Saxena (Taapsee Pannu) again, a femme fatale who has men falling over her, and her husband, Rishabh Saxena (Vikrant Massey), who she is presumed to have murdered (we are shown a flashback of what happened in the first film, which is quite clever). But of course, there’s a police officer who won’t let the case close! How original. Full marks to writer Kanika Dhillon? You be the judge.

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba begins on a promising note, trying to be a commentary on women taking charge of their desires. Rani hints to Rishu (as they communicate via earphones in public) 'there’s no one at home today'. Another female character wants Rishu to fulfill her sexual desires atleast if he doesn’t want to love.

But all this gets lost amidst the fluff that follows. As it progresses, we are promised a satisfying conclusion- pun intended- but what’s missing is the big O, originality. There’s nothing in here we haven’t seen in the first film already. Characters communicate with each other through poetic scrawls on public walls, meet each other frequently even as the police are keeping a watch, and they still don’t get caught. The makers of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba rely completely on the audience’s suspension of disbelief, and logic goes out of the window. The film dips in the second half, and by the time the reveal comes, you just don’t care. How can you make a suspense thriller and have such......