DIRECTOR: Abhishek Chaubey

RELEASE DATE: January 10th, 2014

CAST: Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Huma Qureshi, Vijay Raaz

A sequel to Ishqiya (2010), Dedh Ishqiya is a mildly entertaining comedy that you can save to watch at home on DVD (unless you’re a die-hard Madhuri Dixit fan like my dad… in which case, he would argue, it would acceptable to see on the big screen).

Dedh Ishqiya is a story about two thieves, Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi), who discover that the widowed Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit) of Mahmudabad is hosting a poetry competition in her mansion to choose a husband. Khalujaan poses as the Nawab of Chandpur and participates as a poet in the festival. Babban (Arshad Warsi) arrives in Mahmudabad to take Khalujaan back to their old life of thievery, but he soon falls for the Begum’s confidant Muniya (Huma Qureshi). The story soon turns into a thriller-mystery imbedded with farce-like situations.

The positives:

1. It’s funny – definitely gave me a good laugh here and there, though not enough to get me ROFL.

2. The soundtrack is a highlight of this film (see my “Music Review” in the previous blog post)

3. Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi are brilliant and make great co-stars.

4. It was refreshing to see Madhuri Dixit on screen after so long… although in a very unconventional role.

5. Huma Qureshi does a wonderful job amongst her big costars. Definitely looking forward to seeing her in more films.

1. You may need subtitles as the Urdu can be tough to understand.

2. I expected so much more out of Madhuri’s dancing. They left her “item” song, “Hamari Atariya,” to the very end credits! I give Madhuri tons of credit for continuing dancing – however the choregraphy was full of mudras and nakhre than actual classical dance.

3. First half was better than the second.. ending was disappointing.

4. Vidya Balan would have been a perfect fit for this movie – a part of me wishes they had kept her instead of Madhuri for this.

5. WHY did they have to pick Vijay Raaz as the antagonist?? He is quite the opposite of eye-candy and did not fit amongst all the top-notch co-stars.

On the whole, Dedh Ishqiya is a light-hearted film to watch on a lazy night in.

Acting: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Costumes: 3/5
Choreography: 2.5/5
Sets/Filming Location: 3/5
Songs: 4/5
Eye Candy: 2.5/5
Length of Movie: 2/5
Overall: ** 1/2 (2.5/5) or 5/10

Key:
* = flop, don’t even bother
** = time pass, you’ll live if you don’t see it
*** = worth a watch
**** = A hit, see it in the theater!
***** = Bollywood Blockbuster