Dedh Ishqiya

Dedh Ishqiya Review

(1)-Ratings:3.5/5 Review source-www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com,Review by-Meena Iyer 

Story: A team of con men fall for a Begum and her female confidante. Does their love fructify?

Review: Dedh Ishqiya is a sequel to the zany 2010 black comedy Ishqiya. Like its prequel, the idiom and the setting are rural. The spoken language is Hindi with a peppering of heavy-duty Urdu. Thank God for the English subtitles in circuits except the Hindi belt! What's also nice is the contemporary thought woven in (with references to Iphone-5 and hamburgers in New York). So, the desi-yuppies can connect.

The plot, with many interesting twists, is about the irrepressible team of crooks, Khallu and Babban (Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi respectively). When these two arrive in Mehmudabad, Naseer finds himself magnetically drawn to the local heiress, Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit Nene). And Arshad falls head over heels in love with the Begum's aide, Muniya (Huma Qureshi). The uncle-nephew team chase their love interests and build castles in the air about sex, life and wealth.

The women, Begum Para and Muniya, also have a back-story. Para is the widow of a debauched Nawab who gambled away his wealth on men and wine. Her crazy suitor, Jaan Mohammad ( Vijay Raaz) wants to bail her out.

In their attempt to live happily ever after, Begum and Muniya devise their own Thelma and Louise (the 1991 Hollywood flick) kind of plan. Not willing to give up, Khallu and Baban try hard to fit in.

Vishal Bharadwaj's dialogue keeps you in splits. The free usage of words like sex andchu**yapaa tickle the funny bone. Naseer is back in super-form after straying in outings like Jackpot. Ditto Arshad. Madhuri looks gorgeous but the dhak-dhak girl (now woman) falls short on the oomph meter, as compared to Vidya Balan in Ishqiya.Huma Qureshi is interesting.

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(2)-Rating:4/5, Review source-www.ibnlive.in.com, Review by-Rajeev Masand,

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Huma Qureshi

Director: Abhishek Chaubey

Actors Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi have made these characters completely their own. Khalujaan and Babban aren't Munna and Circuit, Veeru and Jai, Starsky and Hutch, or Tango and Cash. They're small-time thieves with one gigantic flaw -their minds turn to mush when they fall in love.

It's this common thread that ran through 2010's Ishqiya and also runs through its sequel, Dedh Ishqiya. But if the earlier film benefited from an element of surprise - astonishing the audience with saucy comedy, and unpredictable twists and turns - the new one invites you to settle into your seat to savor the delicious Urdu wordplay and the naughty lines, even as you wait for the rug to be pulled from under your feet.

After a fairly lengthy but enjoyable prologue in which they're separated during a jewelry store robbery, the plot of Dedh Ishqiya kicks in with Khalujaan and Babban still on the run from their boss. Khalujaan is the man with a plan. He's come away to Mahmudabad, intending to win a nawabi swayamvar for the hand of the beautiful widow Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit), who has organized a shayari competition at her palace.

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(3)Rating:4/5,Review source-www.bollywoodhungama.com,Review by- Taran Adarsh

Begum Para [Madhuri Dixit-Nene] of Mahmudabad is hosting a festival of poetry and music in her mansion. The country's best poets are in town. Khalujaan [Naseeruddin Shah], posing as the Nawab of Chandpur, is participating as a poet in the festival. He is not there merely to show off his poetic wares, but to impress the widowed Begum who, as the grapevine suggests, is scouting for a husband -- preferably a poet. 

Babban [Arshad Warsi] arrives in Mahmudabad to take Khalujaan back to their old life, but his plans alter the moment he sets his eyes on Begum's maid and confidant Muniya [Huma Qureshi], a brash and sexy young woman. Muniya too has plans of her own. She leaves the palace every now and then in a disguise to meet gangsters in dark alleys. The palace is rife with intrigue... 

Unlike the promos of the first part, which communicated quite a bit about the film, the promos of DEDH ISHQIYA maintain the element of mystery around the characters and its plot. Sure, one is familiar with Khalujaan and Babban, but the new characters that Abhishek Chaubey introduces us to in DEDH ISHQIYA -- Begum Para and Muniya specifically -- are shrouded in secrecy/ambiguity. While ISHQIYA was earthy and rustic, one gets to witness an alternate universe in DEDH ISHQIYA. There's a lot of poetry, music and color this time around. At the same time, there are layers to the story that baffle you. Garnished with chaste Urdu and peppered with unconventional humor and simmering sexuality, the characters indulge in a treacherous game yet again. This time, it's even more dicey and perilous. 

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(4)Rating:3/5,Review source-www.hindustantimes.com,Review by-Anupama Chopra

There are nawabs, sher-o-shairi, and a courtly old-world romance but make no mistake, this is a twisted theatre of the absurd in which the gamut of human folly - greed, decadence, deceit, stupidity - is laid out for us. Once again, Abhishek and co-writer Vishal Bhardwaj find the vein of humour in the darkest situations, including a stand-off in which many guns are pointed at many heads.

Khalujan and Babban, played nicely by Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi, are petty thieves with such wit and charm that you want to hang out with them. These are honourable conmen, unafraid of punching, shooting, brandishing knives but when the ladies are in trouble, they come gallantly to the rescue. 

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(5)Rating:4/5,Review source-www.movies.ndtv.com,Review by-Saibal Chatterjee

Dedh Ishqiya is filled with many delights: the repeated banter between Khalu and Babban, Khalu’s efforts to woo the Begum and bring her out of her self-imposed exile from dance, Babban’s typically brazen attempts to win Munira over, and of course the dangerous cat-and-mouse game that they all play with the unrelenting Jaan Mohammad.

All of this works wonderfully well because the acting is of a consistently high order. The two spirited women in this male-dominated landscape play second fiddle to none and get their own back with ease.

If it is difficult to take one’s eyes off the screen when Madhuri is on it, it is no less a joy to watch Huma Qureshi effortlessly matching strides with the veteran, move for move.

Naseeruddin Shah captures the essence of the worldly wise Khalujaan with the kind of acuity that only an actor of his proven calibre could have. 

Arshad Warsi, as always, is a livewire who injects full-on fizz into the proceedings without breaking into a sweat.

The director also extracts outstanding performances from the supporting cast. 

Vijay Raaz as the villain who is loath to take no for an answer, Manoj Pahwa as the poet in captivity who never tires of flaunting his Italian origins and Salman Shahid as the eccentric gang lord are first-rate. 

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(6)Rating:4/5,Review source-www.indiatoday.intoday.in,Review by-Suhani Singh

Dedh Ishqiya's success can be attributed to the taut story of Darab Farooqui which is aided by Chaubey's fine screenplay, Vishal Bhardwaj's rib-tickling, naughty dialogues and Dr Bashir Badr's lovely Urdu poems. Chaubey conjures a quaint, lyrical and extravagant world, which he uses to highlight the waning wealth of feudal society. The film is at its best when characters poke fun at each other. Subrata Chakraborty's production design recreates the enchanting mehfil-like atmosphere and mushaira, transporting you to another world. Setu's camerawork captures the old-world charm beautifully. 

In an ensemble film in which every actor gets moments to shine, it's Vijay Raaz who stands out most. This isn't the first time he has done so. From Monsoon Wedding and Ragu Romeo to Delhi Belly, Raaz has demonstrated the ability to win audiences over with his talent. Equally impressive is Salman Shahid as Mushtaq, who shines in the two scenes he features in.

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